Topic Legal
Best practices for insurers to avoid special awards in arbitration are elusive: panel speaker
November 2, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterArbitrators are all over the map when it comes to ordering special awards, but as of late there have been more cases finding against an insurer. “There is really a subjective element that comes into it, or, as some would…
Ontario’s $2,000 cap on AB assessments could be vulnerable to Charter challenge: AB seminar panelist
November 1, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterBy including a health practitioner’s travel and translation costs within a $2,000 limit on auto insurance accident benefits assessments, the new Ontario auto insurance reforms may be heading down the highway towards a Charter challenge.“On the issue of including the…
Accident benefits arbitrations face the same kind of backlogs seen in courts: FSCO director delegate
November 1, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterArbitration is supposed to offer a cheaper, quicker alternative to the courts when resolving accident benefits disputes, but the current reality is completely different, Lawrence Blackman, director delegate at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), says.At the Canadian Defence…
Bruce Thomas honoured for 50 years of practicing insurance law
October 29, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Law Society of Upper Canada is recognizing Bruce Thomas, a founding partner of Thomas Gold Pettingill LLP, for practicing law for 50 years. Thomas specializes in insurance law and will be granted a lifetime membership in the Law Society…
Real estate E&O cases particularly difficult to defend: lawyer
October 29, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterInsuring real estate professionals on a E&O policy is particularly challenging for underwriters because of the vulnerability of appraisers, the fact that plaintiff’s experts are only too willing to testify against their own, and trials are highly emotionally charged and…
E&O insurers should take an interest in inquests, disciplinary hearing “sideshows”
October 29, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterInsurers defending professionals should be aware of inquest or disciplinary hearings involving insureds, even if these ‘sideshow’ proceedings are not covered under E&O policies, because of the potential impact the proceedings may have on a subsequent civil action that does…
Psychological and physical injuries cannot be combined to determine catastrophic impairment: Ontario Superior Court
October 28, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterPercentage determinations of psychological impairments cannot be added to percentage determinations of physical impairments to determine whether or not a person has suffered a whole person ‘catastrophic impairment’ under the Statutory Accidents Benefits Schedule (SABS), the Ontario Superior Court of…
Bad faith no longer necessary for monetary awards for breach of Charter rights: Supreme Court of Canada
October 28, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterBad faith is no longer a necessary requirement for awarding monetary damages for the breach of a Charter right following a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision, Blaney McMurtry LLP reported in its Insurance Observer.In Vancouver (City) v Ward, a…
Ontario arbitrator notes insurers must take more care in a post-DAC world
October 27, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterAn Ontario arbitrator has granted a special award against an insurer that terminated income replacement benefits to a claimant, on the basis that the insurer uncritically relied on a vocational assessment that appeared to have been the product of what…
OSFI calls on insurers’ actuaries to account for changes in estimated claims liabilities
October 26, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterCanada’s solvency regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), is requiring the actuaries of property and casualty insurance companies to account for changes in the insurers’ estimated claims liabilities.This change will affect the standard annual filing of…
Just a few steps separate slip-and-fall liability from accident benefits
October 26, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterJust a few steps can mean the difference between a slip-and-fall case and auto insurance accident benefits payments, as illustrated in an arbitration decision issued by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO).In Fee Nung Wong and St. Paul Fire…
AMF launches proceedings against unlicensed firms distributing policies on behalf of “non-existent” insurer
October 26, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) launched penal proceedings against Water Safety Services (WSS), International Water Safety Foundation (IWSF) and Alexandre Beaudoin Bonotto, president of WSS, for allegedly issuing insurance certificates without being licensed.An AMF investigation found that IWSF, a…