Insurance Blogs hosted by Canadian Underwriter
Insurance Blogs hosted by Canadian Underwriter
The Ontario Superior Court has released its first-ever decision on whether the notorious OPCF 16 (Suspension of Coverage) endorsement form is mandatory when an insured wishes to remove road coverage from their policy. Why would an insured want to remove their road…
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The Financial Services Commission of Ontario has approved Aviva’s plans to offer a product for ride-sharing services like uberX. Aviva’s coverage will be available for drivers licensed for at least six years. Drivers can spend up to 20 hours a…
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A Superior Court judge has held that an accident victim, who was unlawfully in Canada at the time of the accident, was not a person who “ordinarily resides” in Ontario. In Silva v John Doe, the plaintiff arrived in Canada…
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A Superior Court judge has held (finally) that the $2,000 loss transfer deductible is applied per claimant. Ontario’s loss transfer scheme is found in section 275 of the Insurance Act. Section 275 (1) allows the insurer paying accident benefits to…
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A Superior Court judge has ruled that an identified automobile cannot become unidentified for the purpose of claiming unidentified motorist coverage. In Lambert v Khan, the plaintiff claimed to have suffered very severe and long-lasting whiplash-type injuries in a low…
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The promise to reduce auto insurance premiums by 15% is a failure. In August 2013 the Ontario government announced a two-year rate reduction strategy. What has ensued since that announcement has been a series of reforms to bring down the cost of …
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My recent article in the January 2016 K-W OIAA Bulletin As we look forward to a new year of insurance law excitement, let us reflect on some of the interesting cases and legal developments that impacted the auto insurance industry…
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The results of a survey released by Kanetix.ca last week revealed that one in four Canadians are ready and cannot wait for the arrival of the driverless car. In addition, Canadians felt that driverless cars would improve safety and greatly…
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Ontario consumers and insurers have had many long-standing complaints about the practices of towing operators. Back in 2012, the Auto Insurance Anti-FraudTask Force, created by the Minister of Finance, recommended a number of changes regarding th…
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In Carneiro v. Durham (Regional Municipality), the Ontario Court of Appeal, in a decision released on December 22nd, 2015, reversed the motion judge’s finding in this “additional insured” case involving winter road maintenance by Miller Maintenance, deciding that the judge…
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Who would have thought a year ago that the Ontario Superior Court would have released five decisions in 2015 dealing with prejudgment interest/deductible issues in motor vehicle accident tort cases? My associate Alexandra Wilkins has been keeping track of this issue…
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The Ministry of Finance has posted proposed changes to Insurance Act regulations to provide for the transition the Automobile Insurance Dispute Resolution System from the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) to the Ministry of the Attorney General’s Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT), and the wind down of disputes filed at FSCO.
Proposed amendments include:
• The last date for submitting applications for mediation, neutral evaluation, or the appointment of an arbitrator to FSCO will be March 31, 2016.
• An application for an appeal to the FSCO Director of Arbitrations will only be accepted where the application for the appointment of an arbitrator was received by March 31, 2016.
• As well, an applications for a variation or revocation to the FSCO Director of Arbitrations will only be accepted where the application for the appointment of an arbitrator was received by March 31, 2016.
• The Office of the Director of Arbitrations will continue to function until all notices of appeal and all applications for variation or revocation have been finally determined.
• Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS) provisions that apply to the dispute resolution process at FSCO will continue to apply, as they read on March 31, 2016, to all applications that were received by FSCO before the transition date but are not finally determined before that date. The SABS will also be amended, where necessary, to apply to applications filed at the LAT on or after April 1, 2016.