Home Subscribe Advertising Contact info Industry Links Company &    Ratings Search Daily service Email Us

Ontario arbitration decision broadens catastrophic criteria     © Thompson’s World Insurance News 2010. No reproduction without written consent.     An appeal decision in the arbitration branch of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario has broadened the criteria for a catastrophic impairment.     Director’s delegate Lawrence Blackman upheld an earlier arbitrator’s ruling that it could be decided on behavioural mental disorders alone.     This applied if the claimant didn’t qualify on the basis of their physical injuries or a combined physical and psychological assessment.     Aviva, the insurer in the case, is now taking the decision to the divisional court level to see if they can overrule it, lawyer Harry Brown told Thompson’s. The company is a client of his firm, Brown and Korte.     The case just shows that there is mass confusion on how to interpret what the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule says with respect to catastrophic impairments.     There is a lot of ambiguity in the SABS which needs to be jettisoned, he added. “When you have the courts saying that there is a lot of ambiguity then it’s time for the legislature to draft it so it’s less ambiguous.     “Then the arbitrators and judges are empowered to deal with the definition of cat in a meaningful way.”     Mr. Brown suggested the decision opens the door to more people qualifying for these benefits which will drive up costs.     Lawyer Lee Samis said this decision is another step in the continuing erosion of the catastrophic impairment qualification for more expensive benefits under the SABS.     A detailed report, including comments from other lawyers and more details of the ruling in our February 15, 2010 edition. If you are not a regular reader, click on Subscribe on the left hand side of the page to get it every week.             Thompson’s World Insurance News P.O. Box 1027,  Waterloo, Ontario,  Canada  N2J 4S1 Tel: 519-579-2500 Fax: 519-745-7321 mpub@sympatico.ca THOMPSON’S WORLD INSURANCE NEWS , Canada’s only independent weekly for p&c insurance professionals, has been the industry’s most trusted news source since 1988.