Latest Supreme Court ruling may reduce liability risk due to impaired drivers
March 27, 2023 by David GambrillCanada’s top court has restored the impaired driving conviction of an Ontario ATV driver, whose Charter rights were violated when the police pulled him over on a shared private driveway instead of a public highway. The case is of interest…
Court sides with Trisura in $475K construction bond case
March 22, 2023 by David GambrillTrisura has successfully defended a $475,000-plus claim against it after a B.C. court found a construction subcontractor couldn’t prove it had a formal contract with the principal contractor named in Trisura’s labour and materials (L&M) payment bond. “I…do not accept…
Insurers urged to prepare for ‘metaverse’ liability
March 17, 2023 by David GambrillMost insurers are concerned about existing digital liability risks, but in as few as three years, they may be confronting commercial liability risks associated with immersive virtual environments known as the ‘metaverse,’ a Geneva Association (GA) survey of liability insurance…
Two companies, one shareholder, only one named insured. What happens next?
March 14, 2023 by David GambrillA man who is the sole shareholder of two companies — one that owns a title deed to a building (and the only named insured on the policy), and one a commercial tenant of that same building — has an…
P&C advisors’ class action certified against insurer over vacation/holiday pay
March 7, 2023 by David GambrillP&C insurance advisors for RBC Insurance Agency Ltd. have won a certification motion for a class action lawsuit against the insurer over how their vacation and holiday pay were determined. Also, the court conditionally certified a similar class action against…
Trial lawyers to intervene in important accident benefits case
March 2, 2023 by David GambrillOntario’s Superior Court has allowed the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) to intervene in an auto insurance case that will address whether a settlement agreement is enforceable when the injured claimant dies before accident benefits (AB) structured settlement instructions were…
Court approves insurer’s settlement over COVID flight cancellations
February 23, 2023 by David GambrillOntario’s Superior Court has approved a $4.8-million settlement in a class action lawsuit related to the denial of travel insurance claims by TD Home and Auto Insurance for cancelled flights during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. During that…
Insurers can deny entire claim for fraud, not just the fraudulent part, court affirms
February 13, 2023 by David GambrillIf an auto insurance claimant fraudulently applies for accident benefits payments arising out of a crash, the insurer can deny the entire auto claim, not just the fraudulent part of the claim, the Alberta Court of Appeal has confirmed. In…
Insurers don’t need a medical reason for denying IRB: Appeal Court
February 9, 2023 by David GambrillAn auto insurer does not have to state a medical reason for terminating a claimant’s income replacement benefits (IRBs) if there is another legal, non-medical ground for doing so (such as a return to work, for example), the Ontario Court…
Extension covering “influx of water” trumps broad form flood exclusion
February 6, 2023 by David GambrillA commercial property policy extension granting coverage for an “influx of water derived from natural sources” trumps a policy’s broad form flood exclusion, Alberta’s Appeal Court has found in a 2-1 split decision. A bowling alley in Fort McMurray, Alta.,…
Accident benefits claimant misses notification period by two decades
February 3, 2023 by David GambrillOntario’s Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) has denied an application for auto accident benefits from a woman injured in an auto accident because she missed the 30-day window to notify her insurance company — by more than 20 years. On May…
Claimant can’t resume auto AB payments after 13 months on the job
January 30, 2023 by David GambrillA New Brunswick woman injured in an auto accident is not entitled to resume her accident benefits payments 13 months after returning to work, the province’s top court has ruled. New Brunswick’s Court of Appeal sided with her auto insurer,…