Ontario arbitrator orders claimant to produce insurer with two years’ worth of medical, prescription records in non-earner benefits case

An Ontario arbitrator has ordered a claimant to provide his insurer, Aviva Canada, with two years’ worth of medical and prescription records in a non-earner benefits case.
This is one year beyond the standard practice of requiring production of only one year’s worth of medical records in accident benefits arbitrations.
Aviva initially asked the claimant to produce medical records dating back to 2000 and prescription records dating back to 1990. Aviva claimed the reason for going back so far was relevant to Ablarde’s claim for non-earner benefits.
Entitlement to non-earner benefits is based on a person suffering from a complete inability to carry on a normal life after an injury sustained in an auto collision. To determine entitlement, the person’s activities and life circumstances before the collision must be taken into account.
Ablarde was injured in an auto collision in 2007.
In a pre-hearing decision in Richard Ablarde and Aviva Canada Inc., Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) arbitrator John Wilson wrote: “I do not accept that it is either necessary or appropriate to order production of [Ablarde’s] OHIP summary and prescription records going back to the millennium and beyond.”
Nevertheless, Wilson also found the nature of the non-earner benefit made it relevant to go beyond the traditional one-year window allowed in arbitrations.
“The non-earner benefit…differs somewhat from many other accident benefits,” Wilson wrote. “Firstly, it is not payable for the first six months.
“Secondly, rather than looking at a short span of time to determine entitlement, one must examine the activities of daily life for ‘a reasonable period of time’ both before and after a motor vehicle accident.
“Consequently, the one-year suggested limit on medical productions may not always be appropriate.”