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  • FAIR – supporting auto accident victims through advocacy and education
  • FAIR – supporting auto accident victims through advocacy and education

Latest News Articles

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For a complete list of recent articles, please go to our 'Media Articles' page under 'In the News'.
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Changes to Ontario Accident Benefit Claims are coming …yet again!

Accident benefits are quite frankly, an incredibly complicated and dense area of the law. The rules for accident benefits, in many respects, are made in favour of large insurance companies and designed to limit an injured claimant’s ability to recover an income. It’s not a committee of accident victims who sit around and make these laws, and tweek them ever so slightly. Rather, it’s deep pocketed insurers and so called “insurance experts” who do so at the behest of the large insurance lobby.

http://www.torontoinjurylawyerblog.com/2015/12/changes-to-ontario-accident-benefit-claims-are-coming-yet-again.html#more-865

Superior Court decision confirms long-term disability payments may be deductible from awards for income loss

The Court recognized the long-standing principle that negligence damages are to be measured by actual loss and double recovery is prohibited. Yet, this principle has been subject to the “private insurance exception”. Courts have applied this exception in the context of LTD benefits. In particular, if these benefits were obtained under the terms of a collective agreement, they were held not to be deductible from a claim for lost wages.

http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=bd6aa474-6fac-4f0d-b464-d6b04ac127ba

Previous Discovery Transcripts, Expert Reports and Mediation Documents Ordered Produced in Indivisible Injury Case

In today’s case (Easton v. Chen) the Plaintiff was injured in a 2011 collision and sued for damages.  The Plaintiff was also involved in four prior collisions that resulted in injury claims, all of which settled prior to trial.

http://bc-injury-law.com/blog/previous-discovery-transcripts-expert-reports-mediation-documents-ordered-produced-indivisible-injury-case?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IcbcLaw+%28ICBC+Law%29

Civil Non-Family Cases Filed in the Supreme Court of BC: Research Results and Lessons Learned

The most frequent problem identified by the respondents was their clients’ reported inability to get any traction with the ICBC adjuster. The high frequency of this response is of course in part due to the number of respondents whose practice is based on MVA cases. The other primary problem for claimants attempting to resolve problems on their own is the sheer complexity of the systems with which they have to deal and the number of issues that require resolution. These problems result in the claimant feeling overwhelmed and under too much stress to further pursue the case without legal assistance.

http://www.cfcj-fcjc.org/sites/default/files//Attrition%20Study%20Final%20Report.pdf

http://us5.campaign-archive1.com/?u=9aa4be4921ffc53334f350741&id=9511af3a17&e=8ddba2c9c8

Proposed amendments to Insurance Act regulations

Amendments to Insurance Act regulations are proposed to provide for the transition of a transformed Ontario Automobile Insurance Dispute Resolution System (AIDRS) from the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) to the Ministry of the Attorney General’s Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT), and the wind down of disputes filed at FSCO.

Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS) provisions that apply to the dispute resolution process at FSCO will continue to apply, as they read on March 31, 2016, to all applications that were received by FSCO before the transition date but are not finally determined before that date. The SABS will also be amended, where necessary, to apply to applications filed at the LAT on or after April 1, 2016.

Comments Due Date:
January 23, 2016
Contact Address:
Senior Manager
Insurance Policy Unit
Financial Institutions Policy Branch
Ministry of Finance
95 Grosvenor Street
Frost Building North, 4th Floor
Toronto, ON
M7A 1Z1

http://www.ontariocanada.com/registry/view.do?postingId=20442&language=en

What could be causing Canada’s spike in auto collisions?

In late November, Allstate released an analysis which demonstrated that its policyholders’ collision frequency rates increased 7.3% in Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario.

http://www.insurancebusiness.ca/news/what-could-be-causing-canadas-spike-in-auto-collisions-200436.aspx

Fuelling Discontent

There has never been a serious study to determine if the increase in the number of injury claims is the result of the frequency of accidents or vehicle design. It does appear that minor injury claims have risen at a greater proportion to serious claims. It also appears that serious claims are investigated in greater detail than minor claims, with the latter being dealt with on a casual basis under accident benefit coverage.

http://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/news/fuelling-discontent/1003927647/?type=Print%20Archives

For Want of Jurisdiction

The Court of Appeal for Ontario recently handed down its latest views regarding when an Ontario court can assume jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant. On September 9, 2015, a five-panel court dismissed the plaintiff’s appeal from a stay of proceedings in Forsythe v. Westfall, issued in February by Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice.

http://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/news/for-want-of-jurisdiction/1003927623/?type=Print%20Archives

Can a pedestrian be liable for being injured in an auto accident?

Did you know that in our province in 2013, more than 4000 pedestrians were injured in road accidents? Tragically, 91 of those pedestrians lost their lives in these accidents.

Unfortunately, as long as there are vehicles on the road, there will always be a danger to pedestrians. But is a driver always liable for causing injuries? Is a pedestrian always cleared of fault?

http://www.vandykelaw.ca/2015/12/can-a-pedestrian-be-liable-for-being-injured-in-an-auto-accident/

PTSD and Catastrophic Injury

According to the Oxford Medical Dictionary, the onset PTSD occurs at least one month after the traumatic experience. PTSD victims report flashbacks, nightmares, and anxiety. PTSD victims also engage in avoidance behaviors. For example, motor vehicle accident victims often develop PTSD in the form of driving anxiety. Occasionally, the anxiety is so severe that these individuals avoid all forms of motor vehicle transportation.

http://oatleyvigmond.com/ptsd-and-catastrophic-injury/#.VmcTAfnBwdU