Topic Legal
Quebec regulator cancels registration of two firms; fines two more
March 24, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Autorité des marches financiers (AMF) has cancelled the registration of two insurance firms and fined two others.The Quebec regulator cancelled Hampstead Cameron inc., a damage insurance firm’s registration, when Pierre Fecteau, the firm’s responsible officer, allegedly “made misrepresentations or…
B.C. Appeal Court orders ICBC to pay damages for injury sustained when vehicle is used to commit a crime
March 24, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterB.C.’s Appeal Court has ordered the province’s public insurer to pay damages to a claimant who was injured by a van used to snatch her purse.Shirley Jane Hannah made a claim against the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) for…
Group disability benefits can be deducted from income replacement benefits: FSCO
March 12, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterAn Ontario arbitration decision has once again raised a question about the deductibility of collateral benefits. This time a decision determined that long-term benefits received from a group disability insurance plan underwritten by Sun Life can be deducted from income…
What’s New: In Brief (March 11, 2010)
March 11, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterA 48-year-old Sault Ste Marie resident has been charged with five courts of fraud and five counts of theft after allegedly misappropriating client’s funds as an insurance agent. As of press time the allegations have not been proven in a…
Fulfilling legal obligation to advise of policy cancellation does not prove insured knew his policy had been cancelled: FSCO
March 10, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterAn insurer that has satisfied its legal requirement for policy cancellation has not automatically proven that the insured knew his policy had been cancelled, an Ontario arbitrator has ruled.In Ersin Aksoy and Markel Insurance Company of Canada, the Financial Services…
Advocis calls on CCIR for improved implementation of harmonized rules
March 8, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterAdvocis, The Financial Advisors Association of Canada, is calling on the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR) to find some way to better harmonize the nation-wide implementation of its regulatory solutions.“There has been much progress on developing, through national organizations,…
What’s New: In Brief (February 26, 2010)
February 26, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterCanadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) does not plan to establish standalone, insurance facilities of the type that Royal Bank of Canada is opening.In an interview with Bloomberg Business Week, CIBC CEO Gerald McCaughey is cited as saying CIBC won’t…
New Brunswick changes law to ban credit scoring in all classes of insurance
February 25, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterNew Brunswick is amending its Insurance Act to prohibit the use of credit scoring for underwriting and rating practices in all classes of insurance.“Regulations will prohibit using credit scoring for underwriting and rating of property and casualty insurance, including automobile…
AMF reports its monetary penalties represent more than 50% of penalties imposed in Canada
February 17, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Autorité des marches financiers (AMF) laid a total of 855 charges in 2009 under the Securities Act and under An Act Respecting the Distribution of Financial Products and Services.The regulator obtained $81.6 million in sanctions, including administrative penalties imposed…
Conservation Area held to less onerous duty of care when skier wandered from trail
February 16, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterWhen a cross-country skier wanders from a marked trail onto “expansive and otherwise untamed property,” a conservation authority has a less onerous duty of care, the Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled. In Schneider v. St. Clair Region Conservation Authority,…
Lawyer calls for retroactive removal of Nova Scotia cap
February 16, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterNova Scotia’s $2,500 cap on minor injuries was never necessary and should be removed retroactively, Richard Halpern, an Ontario personal injury lawyer, wrote in a submission to Nova Scotia’s superintendent of insurance.In January, the province’s superintendent of insurance released a…
Claimant diagnosed with “borderline personality disorder” allowed to represent herself in accident benefits arbitration
February 12, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterShould a woman diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder be allowed to represent herself in an arbitration concerning auto insurance accident benefits?Yes, the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) has ruled.In L.G. and Lombard General Insurance Company of Canada, FSCO…