Court overturns $100K bad faith award against Lloyd’s, Industrial Alliance
March 4, 2022 by David GambrillAn insured is not entitled to a bad faith cost award based on his travel insurers’ conduct in settling the claim with foreign medical service providers, so long as the insured is not exposed to pay settlement amounts that exceed…
Fort Mac bowling alley covered for water damage despite flood exclusion
March 1, 2022 by David GambrillA Fort McMurray, Alta., bowling alley is entitled to coverage for water damage sustained in the April 2020 flooding, despite its insurance policy containing a clear flood exclusion. The Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench found Intact included a coverage extension…
Court sides with insurer in $2.5-million professional liability case
February 28, 2022 by David GambrillTwo creditor firms seeking to access insurance policy proceeds in a $2.5-million trust fund misappropriation case against a lawyer lost their bid to interpret the $500,000 sublimit as applying to each of their claims, instead of being an aggregate policy…
You must show more than pain to claim a non-earner benefit
February 23, 2022 by David GambrillIt’s a long-held proposition that auto insurance is supposed to restore an injured driver to their pre-accident state of health — but what if that state was one of chronic pain following 15 years of being injured in a prior…
Appraisers in home insurance claims don’t have to be neutral, court finds
February 17, 2022 by David GambrillAppraisers in home insurance claims don’t have to be neutral, the umpires do, the Court of Appeal for Ontario has ruled. In Desjardins General Insurance Group v. Campbell, Ruth Campbell made a home insurance claim against Desjardins General Insurance Group after a…
Lawyers on boutique D&O: Don’t just take your broker’s word for it
February 16, 2022 by David GambrillFor boutique D&O coverages, a law firm says companies should be bringing in a lawyer to look at the contract coverage and not just rely on the opinion of the insurance broker about coverage. This is particularly true in business…
Insurers lose privilege bid after mill’s internal explosion investigation
February 11, 2022 by David GambrillSix insurance companies and a pulp and paper manufacturing company, Fortress Specialty Cellulose, have lost their bid to have a PowerPoint presentation about the cause of a commercial explosion protected under litigation privilege. In rejecting their argument, the Superior Court…
Canada’s top court weighs in on HST case concerning accident benefits
January 24, 2022 by David GambrillClaimants who sought a settlement with insurers over HST being deducted from their accident benefits have lost their bid to have their claims certified as class actions. The Supreme Court of Canada rejected leave to appeal the case on Jan.…
Court sides with insurer in multi-million-dollar spat over sublimits
January 21, 2022 by David GambrillB.C.’s Supreme Court has upheld an insurer’s insistence that a mining company’s business interruption losses were subject to a $10-millon sublimit and not to the full policy limit of $250 million. That said, the court did not agree with the…
The case for tracking your risk advice
January 19, 2022 by David GambrillThe City of Revelstoke, B.C., has been found 35% contributorily negligent for not adhering to a recommendation contained in a 2011 risk management audit, which advised to maintain painted ‘No diving’ signs on a raft in Williamson Lake Park. “The…
Court favours insurer in case that differentiates between leasing and financing
January 14, 2022 by David GambrillB.C.’s public insurer is off the hook to pay for vandalism damage done to a car that was jointly owned by the driver and his finance company, because the arrangement between the two car owners was not a true lease.…
Court gets tough in $10-million “emotional distress” case
January 12, 2022 by David GambrillCanadian courts are starting to get tough on potentially vexatious claimants, including insurance claimants, as seen in a Jan. 7 decision by the Court of Queen’s Bench in Alberta. In Sun v. Allwest Insurance Services, the Alberta court referred to…