Disability Insurance

Critical Illness Insurance

ICBC’s expert given “very little weight” for failure to examine.

The failure of a doctor to examine a plaintiff is not, in and of itself, a barrier to the physician from providing opinion evidence to the BC Supreme Court. However, often little weight is attached to a doctor’s opinion in such circumstances. This was demonstrated in Rizzotti v. Doe, 2012 BCSC 1330,  the plaintiff suffered psychological injuries in a serious collision in which the offending motorist died. At trial the plaintiff tendered expert evidence addressing the extent of her injuries. The defendant tendered a report from a psychiatrist, Dr. Levin, who disagreed with the plaintiff’s...

Insurer pays $100,000 punitive damages for alleging fraud.

On June 22, 2012, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice awarded $100,000 in punitive damages against an insurer for alleging fraud against its insured in respect of a fire loss in circumstances which the Court described as a “high-stakes litigation strategy”. Brandiferri v. Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Co. involved a fire loss at the insureds’ home. The garage and its contents were destroyed and smoke penetrated the house. In one action the insureds claimed that Strone Construction was liable for the deficient remedial work and in another action the insureds claimed that their...

$75,000 punitive damages for coverage denial.

In McDonald v. ICBC, 2012 BCSC 283,  the plaintiff was involved in a 2007 collision. She was at fault for the crash. She consumed two to three glasses of wine prior to operating a vehicle. As she was driving she “turned the wrong way into an oncoming van” causing a collision and injuries to the other motorist. The plaintiff was issued a 24 hour roadside suspension and charged criminally with dangerous driving and alcohol related offences. Eventually the criminal charges were dropped and the plaintiff plead guilty to careless driving pursuant to section 144 of BC’s Motor Vehicle Act. The...