This article was initially posted in April 2015. The Supreme Court of Canada has reversed the Ontario Court of Appeal's decision in Zurich v. Chubb. The claimant was driving a Ford Windstar that she had rented from Wheels4Rent, a car rental agency. On September 23,...
Daniel Strigberger
Ice is Back with a Brand New Accident Benefits Coverage Decision
This article was initially posted in May 2021. Does slipping on ice next to a vehicle come within the definition of accident under Ontario's statutory accident benefits scheme? Ok Stop. Collaborate and, ummmmm .....read. The Divisional Court has weighed into the (Ice)...
ONCA: No “trial within a trial” in the duty to defend
This article was previously posted in October 2022. The Ontario Court of Appeal recently considered the traditional pleadings rule and found that the duty to defend cannot be ousted by use of premature evidence, that being evidence that would require findings to be...
Priority Insurer Has No Options
NOTE: This article was previously posted in July 2019. The decision was overturned in Continental Casualty Company v. Chubb Insurance Company of Canada, 2022 ONCA 188 (CanLII) Can the insurer, who is required to waive reliance on the priority dispute rules and pay...
ONCA Stops Rolling Limitation Period For Business Interruption
This article was previously posted in August 2019. The Ontario Court of Appeal has held that business interruption claims are not subject to a rolling limitation period. In Marvelous Mario's Inc. v. St. Paul Fire, the appellant insureds commenced two actions claiming...
No Void Ab Initio For Auto
This article was initially posted in May 2019. Can an Ontario insurer treat an automobile policy as being void ab initio and deny a claim in its entirety as a result? The Court of Appeal for Ontario says "no". Merino v. Intact involved a pedestrian who was...
How Much Risk Does A Builder’s Risk Risk?
When a builder negligently repairs a school’s gymnasium roof, which causes rain to spill into the gym and damage the wooden floor below, does the builder’s All Risk Builder’s policy cover the damage to the floor? Pre-Eng v. Intact involved a coverage battle between...
Digital Privacy Act brings hurrahs, headaches to insurers
On June 18, 2015, the Digital Privacy Act received Royal Assent and is now law in Canada. The Act amends PIPEDA in a number of ways, but there are three major changes that insurers need to know about: Organizations must make sure they are using a valid consent for the...
PHIPA does not protect health information custodians from lawsuits
The Court of Appeal for Ontario has held that a hospital can be sued (in a proposed class action) for a privacy breach. In Hopkins v. Kay, the class plaintiff alleged that her records as a patient at the Peterborough Regional Heath Centre were improperly accessed. She...
Loss transfer limitation rolls along
The Superior Court has upheld an arbitrator's decision, finding that loss transfer is subject to a two-year rolling limitation period. In Economical v. Zurich, the claimant was driving a car and was involved in a motor vehicle accident with a dump truck. She applied...