Belair court victory exposes how clinics can abuse auto claims system
Belair Direct has succeeded in quashing an auto insurance claim that illustrates how rehab and assessment clinics can potentially abuse Ontario’s accident benefits law.
Belair Direct Insurance Company v. Green, 2018 ONSC 2782 (CanLII), <http://canlii.ca/t/hrvst
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Ontarians overpaid $5 billion for car insurance because insurers don’t pass on savings: report
Ontario drivers may have overpaid a staggering $5 billion in auto insurance premiums over the last five years, said a report released this week by York University professor Fred Lazar.
The report, commissioned by the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, claimed that while average claims costs per vehicle declined by 15.5% between 2010 and 2016, average premiums per vehicle only fell by 4.8% within the same period.
https://www.lowestrates.ca/ news/ontarians-overpaid-5- billion-car-insurance-report
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Government won’t appeal decision in Star’s challenge to secrecy in tribunals
The Ontario government will not be appealing a Toronto Star legal victory which should lead to more openness in the province’s tribunal system.
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We spent two days inside one of York Region’s most crowded mental health units. One patient worried ‘it’s not good for our recovery’
Crayons are the only writing tools you’ll find on the third floor of Southlake Regional Health Centre’s psychiatric intensive-care unit in Newmarket. Patients must sign them out and return them to staff, without exception.
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Concussion Information for Patients and Families
http://concussionsontario.org/ standards/tools-resources/ concussion-information-for- patients-and-families/
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Post Concussion Thoughts from a Pro Rugby Player
Concussion in professional sport is common. Fortunately, it is becoming more common for professional athletes to discuss the impact concussion has had on their lives. It opens the door for amateur athletes to admit and discuss their injures as well.
https://www.deutschmannlaw. com/blog/post/post-concussion- thoughts-from-a-pro-rugby- player
[5] By virtue of s. 131(1) of the Courts of Justice Act, I have broad jurisdiction to order costs. Ms. Gatling-Coquelet concedes that I have jurisdiction to make a cost order in this case but says that I should decline to do so for various reasons.
[6] Citing Nelligan O’Brien Payne LLP v. Fontaine, 2006 CanLII 20091 (ON SC), 2006 CanLII 20091(ONSC), she argues first that an assessment process is a reference as opposed to an action or application. As a result, the rules and principles that apply to these types of proceedings do not apply here.
[7] I disagree. An assessment process is not a special proceeding different from any other. When either a client or a solicitor seeks an assessment, they apply for an order. Although the order results in a reference to an assessment process, the mechanism to obtain it is an application. The person seeking the assessment is referred to as the applicant and the responding party as the respondent. The standard order states that it is issued “upon application”.
[8] Under Rule 38.08(3), where an application is abandoned, a respondent is entitled to the costs of the application, unless the court orders otherwise. There is no reason why this rule does not apply to an assessment procedure.
[27] Mr. Allan argues that he should get a higher cost award because the entire assessment process initiated by Ms. Gatling-Coquelet was an abuse of process. I reject this argument. A client always has the right to seek an assessment of their lawyer’s bill. It does not, on its own, indicate bad faith.