Author Archives: Admin4

A Toronto lawyer says he feels vindicated by a recent Divisional Court decision that overturned a two-year-old ruling against him over a settlement agreement.

“I find that the motion judge erred in law and made factual findings unsupported by the evidence on matters of fundamental principle,” said Divisional Court Justice Anne Molloy, who penned the ruling on the court’s behalf.

In 2014, a motion judge had deemed a settlement agreement, to which lawyer Joseph Zayouna agreed, was unenforceable because Zayouna didn’t have instructions from his client to accept the deal.

http://www.canadianlawyermag.com/legalfeeds/

Reading the submission of the OFL one can only be struck by the how the experience of injured workers mirrors the experience of many injured in auto accidents.

It makes sense. Delaying or denying treatment is the most effective way to cut expenses and boost the bottom line (or unfunded liabilities in the case of WSIB), whether we are dealing with injured workers or auto accident victims.

At the same time that the WSIB is under fire, the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association has called on the Ontario government to conduct a public inquiry into the state of independent medical examinations of injured auto accident victims. The OTLA refers to medical experts who “distort evidence … in a bid to satisfy insurance company clients” which causes “unconscionable delays and unfair denial of coverage.”

The FAIR Association of Victims for Accident Insurance Reform has also called on the government to conduct a public inquiry stating “medical files are routinely manipulated by Ontario’s auto insurers to delay and deny claims”.

http://www.torontosun.com/2016/02/13/wsib-and-auto-insurance-birds-of-a-feather

The Ontario Superior Court has released its first-ever decision on whether the notorious OPCF 16 (Suspension of Coverage) endorsement form is mandatory when an insured wishes to remove road coverage from their policy.

http://www.insblogs.com/uncategorized/new-policy-opcf-16-no/6409

The plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle accident. He commenced a claim for the injuries he sustained as a result of the collision. His matter went to trial and he was awarded $35,000 for general damages, $20,000 for past loss of income, $30,000 for future loss of income and $15,000 for cost of future care. Prior to trial, the plaintiff had settled his accident benefits claims and signed a Settlement Disclosure Notice which allocated $77,500 for past/future income replacement benefits; $37,500 past/future medical benefits: $35,000 for past/future rehabilitation benefits and $25,000 past/future attendant care, for a total settlement of $175,000.00.

http://otlablog.com/2015-onsc-71-2/

“You will see in our budget that our focus is on how we can work across the province to make decisions that will allow for growth in communities and to work with businesses to allow us to continue to lead the country,” she said last week.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/02/15/wynne-says-jobs-economy-top-priorities-as-ontario-legislature-resumes-tuesday_n_9237738.html

The bureau opened 2,350 cyber cases last year, and case managers say they’ve been able to make busts just by trawling personal Facebook and Twitter profiles.

http://www.ilstv.com/349164-2/

Most discussions about personal injuries in auto accidents tend to assume that all of the involved drivers are insured, and their identities are known.  But what if somebody is driving without insurance, leaving no insurance company to provide compensation?  Or, even worse, what if you are a pedestrian injured in a hit-and-run, or struck by a stolen vehicle, and there is no way to identify the driver?

http://lernerspersonalinjury.ca/ontarios-insurance-payer-of-last-resort/?utm_source=Mondaq&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=View-Original

More and more fraudsters are being caught out by information publically accessible on social media sites. Authorities like the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) are even giving agents special training to catch insurance claim fraud in cyberspace.

http://www.insurancebusiness.ca/news/digital-age/insurance-body-using-web-to-snare-fraudsters-203101.aspx