New@SBA.
The Wide Latitude of a Duty to Defend
A recent Court of Appeal decision outlined the breadth of an insurer’s duty to defend. In Ernst v. Northbridge Personal Insurance Corporation, the application judge ruled that the insurer had a duty to defend the driver of an ATV. The insurance...
Disability Long Term Disability Insurance: Common Employer Misconceptions
Employers often provide their employees with access to long-term disability benefits through a group benefit plan. These benefits are usually provided and administered by a third party insurer. The insurer’s role is to manage the disability claim...
Waiver On: The Court of Appeal confirms the validity of Waivers
The Court of Appeal recently released their much anticipated decision dealing with the impact of waivers. The Court heard two cases together that dealt with patrons who were injured while skiing at resorts. In both instances, the patrons executed...
Occupiers Liability: Liability Experts Don’t Always Save the Day
The Ontario Court of Appeal just released its decision in Tondat v Hudson’s Bay Company et al. The facts of the case are ones we typically see in Occupiers cases. The plaintiff, Sandra Tondat, slipped and fell when entering The Hudson’s Bay Company...
First fatality at the hands of a… Robot?
On March 18, 2018, a vehicle operating in a “self-driving mode” (owned by Uber) struck and killed a woman in Tempe, Arizona, as she was crossing the street. This was the first documented time that an individual was killed by a self-driving vehicle....
Insurer Not Required to Provide Particulars of Surveillance Pre-Discovery
In the March 8, 2018 decision of Lipovetsky v. Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, the plaintiff brought a motion to the Superior Court of Justice for a more fulsome affidavit of documents from the defendant insurer. The most interesting...
New Case: The Remedy of Relief of Forfeiture
In the recent decision of Wiles v. Sun Life, the Ontario Superior Court allowed a summary judgment motion by Sun Life, finding that the conduct of the plaintiff did not justify granting relief from forfeiture. The plaintiff was an employee of...
Amateur Athletes Secure Concussion Protection
In the midst of the current NHL season, which is seeing more stringent enforcement of concussion protocol implemented to protect professional athletes from potentially life altering brain injuries, the Ontario Government passed a bill that affords...
Court bars SABS actions for bad faith / punitive damages
Can a claimant receiving accident benefits still sue an insurer for extra-contractual damages in court, in light of the April 1, 2016 changes to the Insurance Act? That was the question before Justice Ramsay in a Rule 21 motion recently brought by...
Loss Transfer Superior Court confirms insurers cannot contract out of loss transfer
Automobile insurance is compulsory in Ontario. However, municipalities and large corporations have the financial means to arrange private contracts with their insurers that allow them to handle any claims, including accident benefits claims, that...