B.C.’s small claims court found no fault with the way the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) assessed liability for a motor vehicle accident, despite a complaint that the insurer did not follow up on an admission of guilt by…

If an Ontario auto insurer discovers a client made a material misrepresentation or non-disclosure in its application, could the insurer treat the policy as invalid to begin with? Not now. Or at least, not if the fact situation is the…

Ontario’s Divisional Court ruled this week against Aviva Canada, which wants to challenge a Licence Appeal Tribunal ruling in favour of an auto accident benefits claimant. The case involves how Aviva denied the claim, which was to check a box…

The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) was justified in denying an insured’s claim for making a wilfully false statement in connection with a stolen vehicle, the province’s Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) has ruled. ICBC determined the stolen vehicle was…

Despite a “poorly-worded” section of the British Columbia Motor Vehicle Act, a 24-hour driving prohibition against a suspected impaired driver has been restored in a recent appeal court ruling. In July of 2017, Patrick George Franlin Evans was told by…

A 2018 Ontario court ruling in favour of Wawanesa, arising from a collision involving a truck rented to deliver furniture, has been overturned on appeal. On Oct. 29, 2010, Hy Kiet Liu was in a vehicle that was rear-ended by…

If your client’s home is heated by oil supplied from an outdoor tank, do they need to conduct annual maintenance? This question came up in a recent subrogated home insurance claim. A Court of Appeal for Ontario ruling released this…

Three months after Edward Kent and Teresa Tomsky bought their Edmonton home, they noticed a musty smell in their basement. It turns out a foundation crack, which they were led to believe was minor, was actually quite serious. The foundation…

For the first time in Canada, someone has been convicted of impaired driving charges causing death while paddling a canoe. “This is a unique case in that it is the first time [that] charges have been prosecuted respecting the operation…

Yes, an American auto insurer can be the priority insurer for an accident that happens in Canada. An Ontario judge found last Thursday that the priority dispute provisions in the province’s Insurance Act do indeed apply to U.S.-based insurers, thus…

Should a motorist be liable if a front-seat passenger deliberately grabbed the wheel and took control, causing an accident? Insurers debate this, but judges say a client in this situation should not be liable. In McKay v. Park, released Monday,…

A B.C. fire dispatcher with pre-existing back pain was awarded $200,000 for his auto accident injuries, even though the Supreme Court of British Columbia also found that he was “not a reliable historian of his own condition or other events.”…