Is the Applicant entitled to recover costs pursuant to Rule 19.1?
- The Tribunal finds that the Applicant is not entitled to recover costs as he did not establish that the Insurer acted unreasonably, frivolously, vexatiously or in bad faith during the proceeding.
- Rule 19.1 provides that costs may be requested in a proceedingwhere a party believes that another party has acted unreasonably, frivolously, vexatiously or in bad faith.
- When does a proceeding begin and end? Rule 2.17 defines “a proceeding” as the “entire process from the start of an appeal to the time a matter is finally resolved.” A proceeding starts once the Applicant submits an application to the Tribunal and ends once all issues in dispute between the parties are resolved.
- For the Tribunal to order costs against a party, the party must act unreasonably, frivolously, vexatiously and/or in bad faith during the proceeding. The actions and/or behaviour of a party that occurred prior to the filing of an application with the Tribunal cannot be considered under Rule 19.1.
- The Applicant’s position is that the Insurer acted in bad faith, and relies on correspondence between him and the Insurer from December 10, 2015 to January 26, 2016. This time period is before the proceeding started at the Tribunal.
- The Applicant also submits that after the filing of his Application and prior to the case conference on June 22, 2016 the Insurer acted in bad faith because it did not negotiate a reasonable settlement on the issue of costs, knowing that it should have approved the treatment plan prior to April 19, 2016.
- The Respondent attempted to settle the issue of costs with Applicant. However, the Applicant refused the Respondent’s offers. The Tribunal is of the view that the Insurer’s conduct in attempting to settle the costs issues prior to the case conference does not rise to threshold of unreasonable, frivolous, vexatious or bad faith behaviour as outlined in Rule 19.1.
- The Tribunal is of the view that the Applicant did not establish that during the proceeding the Insurer acted in a manner that was unreasonable, frivolous, vexatious, or in bad faith. As such, the Tribunal will not award costs to the Applicant.