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[1] This is a motor vehicle action. The amount in issue is not large but I expect it is important to the defendant insurer. The issue is whether the insurer is required to pay the full cost of a recent mediation or only half of the cost. There is no dispute that s. 258.6(1) of the Insurance Act provides that where a plaintiff requests a mediation, the insurer shall pay the full cost. However, there is also no dispute that as a Toronto action, a mediation is mandatory pursuant to Rule 24.1 of the Rules of Civil Procedure and that the costs of the mediator are to be shared equally pursuant to s. 4(2) of O.Reg. 451/98 made under the Administration of Justice Act.
[2] The plaintiff argues that there is a conflict in the two statutes and that the Insurance Act prevails by virtue of Rule 1.02, which provides that theRules do not apply if a statute provides for a different procedure.
[6] The clear intention of the Insurance Act was to allow a plaintiff to request a mediation to be paid for by the insurer in the hope that the action might be resolved. The policy reasons seem clear – I do not think it is meant to apply only where a plaintiff is impecunious as suggested by Mr. Sazant. Clearly the legislature assumed that in these circumstances the insurer is in a better position to absorb the costs and pay for the costs of the mediation.