Special awards are rare at the Licence Appeal Tribunal. They only happen when an insurer’s conduct crosses the line into excessive, stubborn, or unreasonable. Lisa Bishop, on behalf of our personal injury team, just secured one, and the Tribunal’s reasoning is damning.
Economical Insurance Company denied a client’s prescription expense claims for six years, arguing she needed a treatment plan before it would pay. The law is clear that no plan is required for prescription drugs recommended by a regulated health practitioner. Lisa’s office told the insurer this, in writing, more than once. The insurer never responded with an answer, and never changed its position, for six years.
The Tribunal’s findings:
- The insurer’s legal position was wrong from the start.
- Asked directly to cite the section of the Schedule it relied on, the adjuster never did.
- The insurer had all the medical evidence it needed to reconsider and simply chose not to.
Vice Chair Rebecca Hines awarded a 50 percent special award, the kind of penalty reserved for insurer conduct the Tribunal considers genuinely unreasonable, plus interest and payment of the benefits that should have been approved years ago.
This case also had a longer road behind it. The client’s original hearing in 2023 was dismissed, a decision later quashed by the Divisional Court after Campisi Law argued successfully that her client had been denied a fair chance to challenge the insurer’s own examiner. The matter came back for a full rehearing, and this time the Tribunal saw the case for what it was.
Special awards send a message insurers cannot ignore. This is what happens when a client has a personal injury lawyer willing to hold the line for six years.
Case Citation: Atkinson v Economical Insurance Company, 2026 ONLAT 22 002008/AABS
