By Alan Shanoff ,Toronto Sun
http://www.torontosun.com/2011/08/18/put-auto-insurers-under-microscope
Being injured in a car accident isn’t something to which anyone looks forward.
Aside from the pain and suffering from the injuries, there’s the potential loss of earnings.
But, no worries, we have no-fault income replacement benefits in Ontario.
And, of course, an insurance company would never act in anything other than good faith in administering those benefits. Or would they?
Let’s look at the case of Everliston Cowans, who was injured in April 2007.
Posted At: 2:32pm 08/23/11
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Comments (0)In any lawsuit in Ontario, be it criminal, civil, family or personal injury/insurance, the Rules of Court mandate that parties exchange relevant documentation that they have, or information pertaining to documentation or other relevant information that they know to exist, be it in their possession or not.
Most often, the request for documentary information originates with a third party.
The purpose of timely exchange of information is to facilitate a resolution of the dispute between the parties.
The Rules of Court are designed to facilitate settlement and avoid court.
Ruling says cumulative injuries may not equal catastrophic impairment
By Judy Van Rhijn | The Law Times | Publication Date: Monday, 10 January 2011
The liberal approach adopted by courts and tribunals towards combining impairments when assessing whether an injury is catastrophic received a nip and a tuck in a recent decision.
In the case, Kusnierz v. The Economical Mutual Insurance Co., the plaintiff’s attempt to combine percentage ratings for physical and mental or behavioural disorders fell afoul of a stricter interpretation of the guidelines than has been the norm.
[This Paper was originally presented at the THE 24th ANNUAL JOINT INSURANCE SEMINAR presented by: The Hamilton Law Association and The Ontario Insurance Adjusters’ Association (Hamilton Chapter)]
SABS CHANGES – LEGAL PERSPECTIVE [1]
By Tara Sciara
For months legal professionals, insurance adjusters, treatment providers, and to some extent, knowledgeable consumers have feared the effects of the new changes to automobile insurance legislation in Ontario released by the Ministry of Finance. The changes to both the statutory accident benefits regime and tort litigation arising from motor vehicle collisions were announced following the Ministry’s Five Year Review of Auto Insurance and most became effective September 1, 2010. For insured persons with automobile policy renewals after September 1, 2010, changes to substantive accident benefits entitlement will take place on the date of renewal.
But silver lining for legal profession as clients need more advice.
The latest round of automobile insurance reforms has introduced big cuts to medical, rehabilitation and attendant-care limits; the removal of housekeeping and caregiver
expenses; and the capping of assessment fees and treatment costs for minor injuries. But with only a promise to keep premium increases in check, personal injury lawyers say an unfair playing field is tilting even further away from the innocent and injured.
The Ontario Court of Appeal has hit an insurer with a $40,000 penalty for refusing to mediate a dispute it considered to be under the statutory threshold for personal injury damages, a move that reinforces the notion that even private mediation is in fact mandatory.
The dispute in Keam v. Caddey arose out of a motor vehicle accident in which Glen Keam suffered personal injuries. The defendant’s insurer defended the action.
In the meantime, Keam’s representatives sent two formal requests for private mediation that referred to cost consequences for refusal. The first request was completely ignored.
Police try to derail suit brought by murdered man’s family
Barb Brown – The Hamilton Spectator
Hamilton police hope to quash a negligence suit that was brought against the service by the family of a young man stabbed to death by a dangerous fugitive.
Corey Rogers, 25, had tried to turn himself into police a week before going on a stabbing rampage on Feb. 17, 2007, outside the Dizzy Weasel bar on Barton Street East. Rogers was sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of murdering Paul Haggerty, 19, and Lucas Deane, 18, and wounding two other teens.
By Cristin Schmitz, Ottawa
September 17, 2010
Auto insurers in Ontario who refuse to participate in mandatory mediation — or who flout their companion statutory obligation to try to speedily settle a case — face “significant remedial costs penalties,” warns the Ontario Court of Appeal.
On Aug. 31, the appeal court slapped auto insurer Aviva Canada with paying an additional $40,000 of Glen and Heather Keam’s legal costs, on top of the partial indemnity costs of $110,000 the plaintiffs were awarded last year after an 11-day jury trial in 2008.
Standard policy cuts medical, rehab benefits in half
THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO (Aug 23, 2010)
Millions of Ontario drivers will face an array of new choices when they renew their auto insurance policies because of new rules that kick in Sept. 1, but critics say the changes introduced by the Liberal government won’t benefit consumers.
One key difference in the new standard auto insurance policy will be a 50 per cent cut in medical and rehabilitation benefits, from $100,000 to $50,000, and a corresponding drop in attendant care benefits, from $72,000 to $36,000.
An Address by Lawrence Hatfield
Mr Mayor, members of Council, and guests,
It is my privilege today to speak on behalf of those here tonight in military uniforms, those who have recently returned from tours with the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan. These men and women have, like so many other members of this community before them, answered the call. From the War of 1812, to the Boer War, to First and Second World Wars, to the Korean War, to the large number of UN, NATO, and peacekeeping missions, to now Afghanistan.
