Topic Legal
Lower discount rate in Ontario means adjourning trials into 2011 could cost insurers “several hundred thousand dollars”: lawyer
October 4, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterThe reduction of Ontario’s discount rate for catastrophic injury trials could significantly increase the future care and future loss of income costs for insurers, warns Stephen R. Moore, a lawyer with Blaney McMurtry.In the bulletin, Don’t Adjourn This Fall’s Large…
Insurers urged to get written conflict-of-interest statements from law firms and treatment/assessment facilities
October 4, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterInsurers wishing to expose potential insurance fraud should be getting written conflict-of-interest statements from legal, treatment and assessment facilities, a fraud investigator suggests.Donna Ford, an insurance fraud investigator with Northwood & Associates, addressed the topic of insurance fruad at the…
Cooperation among insurers is the key to fighting fraud: special investigator
October 1, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterCooperation between insurers is the key to a successful automobile fraud investigation, according to Rick Muir, senior special investigator with Desjardins General Insurance Group, The Personal and Certas Direct Insurance Companies. Right now, however, many insurers are going at it…
U.S. plaintiff firms bankrolling, supporting Canadian securities class action suits
September 30, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterAggressive U.S. plaintiff firms are slowly creeping their way into Canadian securities class action suits, warned Jay A.R. Cassidy, a senior vice president at Marsh in Toronto.Cassidy addressed delegates at the 2010 RIMS Canada conference in Edmonton on Sept. 28…
European regulator engaged in a “failure of common sense”: Lloyd’s chairman
September 30, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterEuropean regulators are engaged in a “failure of common sense,” by crafting regulations to prevent a re-run of the financial crisis instead of focusing on strategies to promote the economic growth of the financial sector, Lloyd’s of London chairman Lord…
Proper notification of vacancy does not result in insurance coverage for vandalism of vacant property: Saskatchewan court
September 29, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Queen’s Bench for Saskatchewan has upheld an insurer’s policy that excludes coverage for vandalism on a “vacant” property, despite the policyholders’ claim the policy remained in force because he had told the insurer about the vacancy within the 30-day…
Umbrella policy to provide ‘drop down’ coverage when absent in the primary policy
September 24, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterOntario’s Court of Appeal has ruled an ‘outside directorship liability’ (ODL) insurer had a duty to defend two lawyers and pay all related costs, despite the fact that the primary D&O policy also provided for a duty to pay for…
Defective work can be an “accident” covered by a commercial insurance policy: Supreme Court
September 23, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterDefective workmanship can be interpreted as an “accident” under a Commercial General Liability (CGL) Policy, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled, and “property damage” under a CGL is not necessarily limited to third-party property damage.In making this ruling in…
Canada’s Bank Act review is officially underway
September 22, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterFinance Minister Jim Flaherty on Sept. 20 officially sounded the starting gun to the Bank Act review.The federal government is mandated to review statutes that govern federally regulated financial institutions every five years. The last legislative review was completed in…
Torn ligaments, rotator cuffs are ‘serious’ injuries under tort, even if ‘minor’ under reforms: trial lawyer
September 22, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterOntario’s auto insurance reforms are barely a month old and already trial lawyers have tipped their hand that they might try to achieve through tort what they will no longer receive from the province’s no-fault benefit scheme.Ontario’s new, interim Minor…
Current round of Ontario auto reforms not enough to bust out of the reform cycle: defence lawyer
September 21, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterOntario is entering into yet another optimistic phase of its seemingly perpetual auto insurance reform cycle, but many within the insurance industry appear to want to break out of this cycle and build an altogether new model for auto insurance…
Reminding policyholders of their own morality may reduce temptation to commit insurance fraud: behavioural economist
September 20, 2010 by Canadian UnderwriterResearch on cheating relevant to insurance fraud indicates a lot of people cheating a little bit is much more costly to society than a few people who cheat a lot.But if insurers are willing to change their approach and remind…