Topic Legal
CCIR seeks a more engaged dialogue between policymakers, insurers and the public
May 18, 2011 by Canadian UnderwriterIn an effort to boost the Canadian public’s relationship with the insurance industry, the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR) has tweaked its strategic plan to focus on ways insurance regulators “can more profitably engage the policymakers in insurance issues.”CCIR…
B.C. Insurance Council fines Roadways Insurance Agencies $20,000
May 13, 2011 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Insurance Council of British Columbia has issued an order fining an insurance agency $20,000 for findings of misconduct occurring under two different owners over the course of three years.An investigative review committee (IRC) found that over the course of…
Rehab clinic in Ontario convicted for submitting false invoices and treatment plans, fined $50,000
May 13, 2011 by Canadian UnderwriterPioneer Rehabilitation Clinic Inc. has pleaded guilty to knowingly making false or misleading statements to an insurer in order to obtain payment for goods and services provided to an insured in the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto on May…
IBC issues bulletin to insurers about notification requirements, AB payments in anticipation of possible postal strike
May 13, 2011 by Canadian UnderwriterIBC has issued a legal bulletin providing information to insurers about handling notification of policy terminations, as well as payment of accident benefits claims, in the event of a possible postal strike.Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers…
Quebec regulator offers $1.6 million in compensation to victims of investment scheme in connection with former insurance broker
May 11, 2011 by Canadian UnderwriterQuebec’s financial services regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), is paying out $1.6 million in compensation to 28 investors defrauded in an investment scam in connection with former insurance broker and financial advisor Carole Morinville.In August 2010, the AMF…
Manitoba court green-lights election of appraisal and arbitration process seven years after loss date
May 11, 2011 by Canadian UnderwriterOver the objections of Temple Insurance Company, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba has allowed a dispute around a builders’ risk property insurance policy to proceed to the appraisal process seven years after the initial loss date. The Winnipeg…
B.C. privacy commissioner rules insurers must give consumers explicit notice that credit scores will be used for underwriting
May 10, 2011 by Canadian UnderwriterB.C.’s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has ruled that Economical Mutual Insurance Company must stop collecting and using credit scores until it provides customers with appropriate notification as required by the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).The order notes…
Saskatchewan removes access to auto injury benefits for convicted car thieves
May 5, 2011 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Saskatchewan government introduced the necessary amendments to its auto insurance legislation to remove access to all auto injury benefits for convicted car thieves.Under the current legislation, convicted auto thieves injured in a motor vehicle collision can access all the…
Nova Scotia auto insurance review interim report recommends doubling standard auto accident benefits package, with ‘buy down’ option
May 4, 2011 by Canadian UnderwriterNova Scotia’s auto insurance review is recommending that the province raise its standard auto insurance accident benefits package from its current level of $25,000 to $50,000, and then including a provision to allow policyholders to ‘buy down’ to a basic…
Pleading negligent supervision is not the same as asserting vicarious liability in policy exclusion case: Newfoundland court
May 2, 2011 by Canadian UnderwriterNegligent supervision is not the same as vicarious liability and therefore does not fall under a policy exclusion based on “ownership, use, or operation” of an all terrain vehicle (ATV), the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador’s trial division found…
Quebec Court of Appeal narrows scope of tender document’s indemnity clause
April 29, 2011 by Canadian UnderwriterQuebec’s Court of Appeal has limited the application of a fairly broad indemnity clause that would have effectively transferred all of a municipality’s risk to a contractor as part of a tendered contract.In Ville de Montréal c. C.M.S. Entrepreneurs Généraux…
Alberta Insurance Rate Board confirms commitment to moving toward file-and-approve regulatory regime
April 28, 2011 by Canadian UnderwriterWith the province’s auto insurance product now stabilized, the Alberta Insurance Rate Board (AIRB) is now looking into moving toward a file-and-approve regulatory system.AIRB chairman Alf Savage commented in the AIRB 2010 Annual Report that the province’s auto insurance market…