Author Archives: Admin4

Rhona DesRoches, chairwoman of the Association of Victims for Accident Insurance Reform, calls the decision a “game-changer” for personal-injury claimants, an indication that the courts have “had enough of the manipulations of insurers to delay and deny claimants through the use of biased medical evidence.”

“Ontario’s insurers,” she says, “have used the partisan medical experts as a tool in their toolbox, and it is the most effective method they have to deny claims. If Daggitt is a road map, those days of denial based on bogus medical opinions is coming to an end.”

http://www.lawtimesnews.com/201605095398/headline-news/experts-disqualified-for-history-of-bias

This week, Law Times reports on a personal injury case where an expert witness was rejected. In Daggitt v. Campbell, Justice Helen MacLeod-Beliveau dismissed a preliminary motion by the defendant insurance company for an IME of the plaintiff, Steacy Daggitt, by psychiatrist Dr. Monte Bail.

http://www.lawtimesnews.com/201605095396/commentary/editorial-under-pressure

Do you know how much third-party liability coverage you have in your auto insurance policy?

Do you know how much coverage you should have?

Few people know the answers but they should.

http://www.torontosun.com/2016/05/07/check-your-car-insurance

Despite the much lower medical costs in Canada when compared to the United States, Canadians are required to have several times more liability auto coverage than what is mandatory in America. Aside from two provinces – Nova Scotia and Quebec – the minimum required third-party liability coverage is $200,000. In Nova Scotia, the minimum is $500,000, while in Quebec the minimum is only $50,000.

http://www.insurancehunter.ca/blog/what-you-need-know-about-mandatory-auto-coverage-requirements-canada

On April 1, all disputes regarding accident benefits began wending their way to the Licensing Appeals Tribunal.

There is considerable anxiety over how the new system will work. It promises a speedy resolution of disputes, but it remains to be seen if it can deliver on its goal to resolve matters in a six-month time frame.

http://www.lawtimesnews.com/201605095394/focus-on/new-auto-insurance-dispute-resolution-process-debuts

In Fonseca v. Hansen et al, released April 26, 2016, the Court of Appeal has provided further clarification on what type of communication is appropriate between counsel and an expert witness. One of the questions on appeal was whether the trial judge erred by failing to instruct the jury that pre-trial communication between the appellant’s counsel and an expert witness was not a proper basis on which to reject the expert’s testimony.

http://www.chcbarristers.com/blog/communication-with-expert-witnesses/

Ms. K was involved in a car accident on November 19, 2009.  Within a few days of the accident (on November 23, 2009) Ms. K reported the accident to her family physician and complained to him of an exacerbation of her symptoms. She applied for and received statutory accident benefits from State Farm Mutual, but when disputes arose concerning Ms. K’s entitlement to certain accident benefits, and mediation failed, Ms. K applied for arbitration at the FSCO.

http://www.deutschmannlaw.com/news-detail?&newsfile=10824

Changes to Rule 48 of the Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure enacted in 2015 mean that any claim commenced before January 2012 that has not yet concluded or been set down for trial by Jan. 1, 2017 will be dismissed without notice.

http://lawtimesnews.com/201605095397/headline-news/change-in-court-rules-could-boost-claims

Litigating long-term disability claims (LTD claims) can be tricky, especially when the injury is an invisible one, such as chronic pain or a psychological injury.

Firstly, it’s important to note that LTD claims aren’t your typical tort or pain and suffering claims. These are special sorts of cases.

http://www.advocatedaily.com/ltd-claims-on-account-of-psychological-injury.html

Ontario’s poverty gap for single adults on welfare has skyrocketed by 200 per cent over past 20 years, according to analysis by Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Despite the province’s 2008 poverty reduction plan, the women’s plight and that of almost 158,000 other single adults on welfare or Ontario Works is getting worse, according to a new report on social assistance being released Monday.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/05/09/ontarios-poverty-gap-soars-as-welfare-rates-stagnate.html

Ontario’s Social Assistance Poverty Gap https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Ontario%20Office/2016/05/CCPA%20ON%20Ontario%27s%20social%20assistance%20poverty%20gap.pdf