The case called F. V. v Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company decided by the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) on January 30, 2017 answers the question on whether or not family holiday expenses can be classified as payable rehabilitation benefit under section 16 of the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS).
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The Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT), and its prejudicial impact on the health and well-being of motor vehicle injury victims across Ontario, is now firmly entrenched.
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When you or someone you care for is involved in an accident, your world can be turned upside-down. It’s difficult to know what to do next or how to help matters. Even if you are a nurse or doctor, focused on one aspect of your patient’s return to health, you may wonder where to direct families for other pressing needs.
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One of the challenges we face as Canadian personal injury lawyers arises from the differences between Canadian and American approaches to damages. Our clients hear about massive personal injury awards (the $1.3 Million “spilled coffee” cases etc.), then are frustrated or suspicious by the relatively modest damages available in a Canadian case.
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One of the biggest obstacles facing personal injury plaintiffs in the pursuit of their claims is the very real threat of exposure to a large costs award against them if they are not successful in the lawsuit. Typically, a judge will order the unsuccessful party to pay a portion of the victor’s legal costs. The rationale for this is that the unsuccessful party should not have put the other party to the expense of a trial and should have settled the claim. This is fine if the plaintiff is successful. However, it works both ways. If a plaintiff either is not successful at trial or is awarded less by a jury than the defendant’s insurance company offered to pay in settlement, the plaintiff will typically owe the insurer a portion of its costs.
In Aviva Insurance Company of Canada v. Dittmann, released on March 15, 2018, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed a leave to appeal application by Aviva and ordered the insurer to pay Ms. Dittmann’s legal costs.
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In the recently released Costs decision, Stewart et al. v. Wood et al. [2019 ONSC 3931] Justice Tausenfreund was required to assess costs and disbursements in a settled personal injury lawsuit.
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We have begun recommending that our clients consider purchasing legal cost protection from companies like BridgePoint Indemnity Co. We believe that this empowers our clients, and removes one of the obstacles to achieving fair compensation from the defendant insurance companies.
