Author Archives: Admin4

Hordo v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, 2016 ONCA 238 (CanLII)

[1]         The appellant appeals, on numerous grounds, from the motion judge’s decision striking her application for declaratory relief against the respondents as an abuse of process.  At heart, the appellant claims that confidential and private health-related information provided by her to the respondent State Farm in support of her claim for statutory accident benefits was wrongly transmitted to persons outside Ontario without her prior knowledge or consent.

[2]         The motion judge accepted State Farm’s position that the appellant’s complaints against State Farm have also been asserted in her pending action against it for accident benefits.  In addition, the appellant has lodged similar complaints on essentially the same basis under the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. I.8 and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, S.C. 2000, c. 5 (“PIPEDA”), both of which provide comprehensive dispute resolution schemes.  In these circumstances, the motion judge accepted State Farm’s submission that declaratory relief should not be granted where it will not resolve the disputes between the parties and there are other reasonably effective procedures available for dealing with those disputes.

http://canlii.ca/t/gp2mt

What every injured accident victim should take from the Ghomeshi Trial (Ontario)

99% of personal injury cases in Ontario settle without ever going to trial; or without ever seeing the inside of a Courtroom for that matter.

The same cannot be said for criminal cases in Ontario. The government keeps stats on the percentage of criminal cases which go to trial. These stats are displayed on the Ontario Court of Justice website, and vary from month to month, depending on the offense.

http://www.torontoinjurylawyerblog.com/2016/03/every-injured-accident-victim-take-ghomeshi-trial-ontario.html

Advanced Payments: When and Why?

With the pending changes to the SABS, tort adjusters will undoubtedly be called upon by Plaintiff counsel to make advance payments to cover such things as medical expenses, lost wages and attendant care.  Seriously injured Plaintiff’s facing a combined $65,000 limit for medical, rehabilitation and attendant care benefits will start looking for funds from the tort defendant in advance of a settlement or trial.  With a five year limit set to be imposed on non-catastrophic Plaintiffs to access these benefits, it is conceivable that many Plaintiffs will have either used up, or no longer be entitled to receive such funds, before their cases get to trial.

http://www.millerthomson.com/en/blog/ontario-insurance-litigation-blog/advanced-payments-when-and-why

Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) Rules of Practice and Procedure, Version 1 (April 1, 2016)

LAT adjudicates matters in a variety of diverse areas such as alcohol and gaming regulation, motor vehicle impoundments and driver’s licences, new home warranties, consumer protection, regulation of various occupations and businesses, and starting on April 1, 2016, in relation to automobile insurance Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS) disputes.
Information about LAT’s Automobile Accident Benefits Service (AABS) is available here: www.slasto.gov.on.ca/en/AABS
2.3 “AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT BENEFITS SERVICE (AABS) CLAIM” “Automobile Accident Benefits Service (AABS) Claim” means an application to the Tribunal pursuant to s. 280(2) of the Insurance Act seeking resolution of a dispute involving statutory accident benefits.
2.23 “STATUTORY ACCIDENT BENEFITS SCHEDULE (SABS)” “SABS” means the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule, Ontario Regulation 34/10 (Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule—Effective September 1, 2010), made under the Insurance Act, as revised from time to time, or a previous version of the SABS.

The Courtroom and the Role of Personal Injury Lawyers

In most cases of a personal injury claim, the case does not make it to the courtroom – a settlement is reached before trial. Sometimes a settlement cannot be reached, and your personal injury case may have to reach the courtroom.

http://lernerspersonalinjury.ca/articles/courtroom-role-personal-injury-lawyers/

Procedural Fairness and Due Process Trump Arbitrator’s Award – Appeal Allowed

As the sun begins to set on FSCO, Director’s Delegate Blackman rendered a Preliminary Issues Appeal order in Waldock v. State Farm (FSCO Appeal P15-00068, March 18, 2016) which serves as a helpful reminder to those who descend into the dispute resolution arena, be they insurers, applicants or adjudicators, that there is a requirement for procedural fairness and due process.

http://www.millerthomson.com/en/blog/ontario-insurance-litigation-blog/procedural-fairness-and-due-process-trump

Hydro One players paid for exclusive access to Ontario cabinet ministers

The significant difference is that many campaign fundraising practices that are illegal in Quebec – the province bans corporate and union donations, and imposes a $100 annual cap on contributions from individuals – are allowed in Ontario.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/hydro-one-players-paid-for-exclusive-access-to-ontario-cabinet-ministers/article29427906/

Meehan v Good, 2016 ONSC 2110 (CanLII)

[3]               The MVA resulted in catastrophic injuries to the plaintiffs, particularly to Anne Meehan.  The evidence in this proceeding supports their position that their former solicitor,  Donald Good may have been negligent in his handling of the actions related to one or more of their claims stemming from the MVA.  Unfortunately for the plaintiffs, they did not pursue their claims in negligence prior to the expiration of the two year limitation period.  They now seek to recover as against Cardill for failing to advise them of their rights in negligence and the running of the limitation period.

https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2016/2016onsc2110/2016onsc2110.html

Toronto police no longer coming to scene of minor collisions, but what’s minor?

Toronto police are changing the way they respond to minor crashes, including those that result in injuries.
Beginning on Tuesday, police will no longer dispatch a police officer to investigate a property damage collision or minor personal injury collision where the injured person is not immediately taken to a hospital.

How After-The-Event (ATE) Insurance can affect trial costs

A personal injury trial does not necessarily conclude with a judge or jury ruling. There are always costs to consider at the conclusion of a trial, such as the awarding of legal costs (generally to the winning party) as well as possible deductions.  At the conclusion of the Markovic v. Richards trial,  there were two post-trial issues to be decided, both regarding costs. The first question was whether or not the plaintiff’s premiums for after-the-event (ATE) insurance is a compensable disbursement. The second issue was whether or not the new prejudgment rate set out in the Insurance Act on January 1st, 2015 was retroactive and could be applied to the current case.