Topic
Legal
Why dirt bike accident victim can get Ontario auto accident benefits
March 6, 2021 by Greg MeckbachAn Ontario claimant who suffered a severely disabling injury after falling off his dirt bike during a competition is entitled to accident benefits under his auto policy. This is the result of Beaudin v. Travelers Insurance Company of Canada, released…
Why reinsurers are watching how UK top court defined ‘occurrence’ in business interruption dispute
March 2, 2021 by Greg MeckbachThe British Supreme Court’s interpretation of the word “occurrence,” in its recent COVID-19 business interruption ruling, should not be applied to reinsurance excess of loss treaties, Guy Carpenter experts argue in a recent paper. In a decision released on Jan.…
Letter to the editor: Best Terms — the buyer’s point of view
February 26, 2021 BC Risk & Insurance Manager’s AssociationTo the Editor, We would like to respond to your editorial titled “Regulators, leave subscription policies alone,” dated Dec. 7, 2020. It is true that these are turbulent times in the insurance market, and that insurers have been experiencing losses…
Trial date delayed in $300-million banker’s commercial coverage dispute
February 22, 2021 by Greg MeckbachA trial in an Ontario coverage dispute lawsuit, on a Big 5 bank’s $300-million commercial claim, is being pushed back from its originally-scheduled start date of Sept. 13, 2021. Toronto Dominion Bank is suing a group of insurers, including six…
Insurers beware: Why your settlements may not be secure
February 16, 2021 by Canadian UnderwriterA record-keeping blunder more than 50 years ago means London, Ont.’s Catholic diocese faces a new multi-million-dollar lawsuit over sexual abuse during the early 1970s of an elementary school student by a priest. The Supreme Court of Canada announced Feb.…
Final outcome of The Co-operators’ surface water commercial property coverage dispute
February 12, 2021 by Greg MeckbachA Supreme Court of Canada decision released Thursday means The Co-operators cannot appeal a $429,000 court decision against it over “surface water” coverage on a commercial property policy. In Co-operators General Insurance Company v. Le Treport Wedding & Convention Centre…
Business interruption insurer could be sued by this Canadian restaurant owner
February 9, 2021 by Greg MeckbachAn Ontario-based restaurant company whose sales dropped more than 50% during the pandemic may be taking legal action against its business interruption insurer. In a recent securities filing, SIR Royalty Income Fund said its business interruption claim from the COVID-19…
Why this drunk driver couldn’t be sued by victims of a hit-and-run
February 5, 2021 by Greg MeckbachA Saskatchewan motorist who pleaded guilty to impaired driving cannot be sued in the province by victims of a hit-and-run accident that happened in Saskatoon a few hours before the inebriated motorist was pulled over and arrested by police. This…
How to avoid turning the mishandling of a claim into a six-figure bad faith award
February 3, 2021 by David GambrillA Manitoba court decision ordering the province’s public auto insurer to pay a bad faith award of $350,000 serves as a cautionary tale to the industry that bad faith awards for mishandling a claim can be made even after a…
Why this insurer had to pay $187K for ex-Ontario PC leader’s legal defence
January 28, 2021 by David GambrillAn Ontario court has ordered Sovereign General to pay $187,313 to cover the legal costs of former Ontario Progressive Conservative Party leader Patrick Brown, who personally incurred the expenses while defending a defamation lawsuit arising from the publication of his…
Risk management lessons from the governor general’s resignation
January 26, 2021 by Greg MeckbachIf a commercial client has any inklings of a toxic workplace, an independent investigation is one way of managing reputational and liability risk, an expert says. The resignations last week of Governor General Julie Payette and her secretary may have…
This new type of class-action tort grew from genetically modified corn seed
January 22, 2021 by Greg MeckbachA proposed class-action lawsuit based on the novel tort of “premature commercialization” is going ahead in Ontario. The Supreme Court of Canada announced Dec. 10 it will not hear an appeal from Syngenta Canada Inc., which is facing a proposed…