60 Day Limitation for Accident Benefits Mandatory Medations Upheld by the Court of Appeal
What happened? The Court of Appeal has upheld the lower court decision in Hurst v. Aviva Insurance Company (2012 ONCA 837) that Applications for Mediation received by FSCO that have not been mediated within 60 days are deemed failed. A...
Court Finds Nexus even though Claimant Declines Policy
The Superior Court has found another “sufficient nexus” in a battle between two insurance companies. In Zurich v. Chubb, the claimant was driving a Ford Windstar that she had rented from Wheels4Rent, a car rental agency. She had an accident...
When is a Commercial Vehicle “Heavy”?
A Superior Court judge has allowed an appeal in a loss transfer matter considering the “weight” of a vehicle for loss transfer purposes. In Republic Western v. Economical, the claimant was driving a 4-door Toyota insured with Economical when she...
ONCA Rules on Regular Use
The Court of Appeal has just released its decision in Kingsway v. Gore and Security National v. Markel dealing with regular use issues. Both matters dealt with similar facts, namely: A truck driver (contractor, sole proprietor) owns a truck and...
The Trials and Tribulations of Wen and Shen
On September 20, 2012, Justice Stevenson of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in the decision of Wen v. Unifund Assurance Company, ordered that the insureds in this case “must take responsibility for their own actions and for their own...
ONCA Reverses Pastore
The Court of Appeal for Ontario has released its decision in Pastore v. Aviva, allowing the appeal and restoring the Director’s Delegate’s order. In Pastore, the claimant was involved in a car accident on November 16, 2002. She suffered a...
FSCO approves medicinal marijuana: shocking, but for a different reason
There is always controversy regarding the approval of novel treatment modalities, and medical marijuana is no different. At first blush it seems sensational that marijuana would be approved as a reasonable and necessary treatment, as was decided in T.N. and...
Grandma isn’t Always to Blame
Juliet Bratanov’s 18 year old grandson used her van to run-down and kill Kevin Persaud after a drug deal gone bad. Persaud’s family consequently commenced an action against Bratanov claiming that Bratanov was vicariously liable for the actions of her...
ONCA: Lessee Entitled to Recovery for Property Damage Under Lessor’s Policy
A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision has addressed the extent to which a lessee is covered by a lessor’s auto insurance policy for property damage that the lessee incurred to its cargo in an accident. In Siena-Foods Ltd. v....
Attendant Care: Beware
Insurers defending retroactive claims for Attendant Care Benefits on the basis of a claimant’s failure to submit an “Application for the Benefit” by means of an Assessment of Attendant Care Needs – Form 1 (“Form 1”) had best beware. Until...
