Poverty in Toronto costs between $4.4 billion and $5.5 billion a year, according to a groundbreaking report on what we all pay in added health care, policing and depressed economic productivity for the city’s 265,000 families living on low incomes.
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B.C. Premier: no need for private insurance or no-fault system
The insurance market in British Columbia is going through turbulent times, with pressure mounting on the Insurance Corporation of BC (ICBC), the provincial public provider. Over the last week, the ICBC was pressured into releasing worrying projections for a 42% increase in premiums by 2020, while it also announced it would no longer insure luxury vehicles in a bid to keep the financial burden off taxpayers.
16-000041 v Intact Insurance Company, 2016 CanLII 78333 (ON LAT)
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.
SCC decision reaffirms protection of solicitor-client privilege
In Lizotte v. Aviva Insurance Company of Canada, the Supreme Court upheld a 2015 Quebec Court of Appeal ruling that determined a provincial regulator could not have access to information Aviva Insurance claimed was protected by litigation privilege.
Quebec’s damage insurance regulator, Chambre de l’assurance de dommages, had requested certain documents from Aviva about a claims adjuster in an ethics enquiry. Aviva withheld some documents citing litigation privilege, as a client had brought legal proceedings against the company, which involved the same claims adjuster.
Poor penalized on car insurance
Laura Beeston has exposed the dirty secret of the car insurance companies in Ontario. Poor people pay more. The Ontario government has allowed insurers to break urban centres into smaller and smaller pieces, with the result that poor neighbourhoods pay double what rich ones do.
To appeal or not to appeal your Long Term Disability Denial (Ontario)
Many claimants get confused by the ability to appeal an LTD denial. The confusion lies on what did the LTD claim first get denied? Was it the date of the initial denial; or was it on the date that the 1st, 2nd or even 3rd appeal was denied? You can see how this can be confusing for a person who is new to LTD claims.
WSIB mulls reform to rules that deny compensation to some mentally ill workers
The province’s worker compensation board says it is discussing ways to reform current laws that prevent injured workers with chronic mental stress from receiving benefits, but says it cannot reverse its policy of denying compensation without legislative change.
The biggest source of waste in Canadian health care? The private, for-profit sector
Brian Day’s legal battle against universal public health care in Canada is now before the BC Supreme Court. Day—along with other would-be profit-makers—are hawking unprecedented privatization as the solution to challenges in Canada’s health care system.
Don’t be so cheap Health Unit tells province
The Board of Health passed a Resolution last night calling on the provincial government to increase social assistance rates (Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program) to reflect the costs of living in our community, including the cost of a nutritious diet.
https://www.baytoday.ca/more-l