Private arbitrators settle priority disputes, not FSCO arbitrators

Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) arbitrators decide disputes concerning entitlement to and amount of motor vehicle accident benefits, but private arbitrators resolve priority of payment disputes among insurers, a FSCO arbitrator has found.
In doing so, FSCO upheld changes to Ontario regulations in 1995 that carved out the authority to resolve disputes between insurers from FSCO and handed it to private arbitrators under the Arbitration Act.
These changes to the regulations were “introduced to ensure that the payment of accident benefits is not delayed due to a dispute over which insurer should pay,” FSCO Arbitrator Suesan Alves wrote in her decision in Elizabeth McGregor and ING Insurance Company of Canada.
McGregor was injured in a motor vehicle accident on Dec. 7, 2005 in Mississauga, Ontario. The vehicle she was driving was registered in Quebec and insured with ING (Quebec).
The insurers of the other vehicles involved in the accident were State Farm Automobile Insurance Company, RBC Insurance Company and The Personal.
McGregor, whose primary residence is Quebec, was living and working in Toronto at the time of the accident. She applied for accident benefits.
ING (Quebec) said McGregor purchased a property damage-only policy that did not provide for accident benefits coverage. The Societe de l’Assurance Automobile du Quebec (SAAQ) similarly refused her benefits claim on the basis that she was not a resident of Quebec at the time.
On behalf of ING (Quebec), ING (Ontario) responded to McGregor’s request in Ontario for a private arbitrator to settle the priority dispute between insurers. In doing so, ING (Ontario) filed a notice saying the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund and the other insurers involved should pay benefits to McGregor.
ING (Ontario) asked for a FSCO arbitrator, not a private arbitrator, to settle the matter. FSCO arbitrators used to settle priority disputes prior to the 1995 changes.
But FSCO arbitrators now only settle disputes about quantum and eligibility to benefits, Alves ruled. They do not settle priority disputes with insurers.
Changes to the regulations were made to avoid situations in which a claimant received no benefits because insurers could not agree who should pay them.
McGregor has received no accident benefits since the accident in 2005, Alves noted.