Publications

Northpoint Legal, April 23, 2014 – One of the thorniest issues to deal with in insurance coverage matters is that of “concurrent causation”. The problem was illustrated again on the national stage last year when Albertans experienced massive overland flooding that also resulted in sewer back up. Typically, homeowner’s policies in Canada do not cover damage from flooding but many will...

Cox & Palmer, New Brunswick, March 21, 2014 – The claim for loss of insurability… If you are plaintiff counsel you may be wondering what it is, why you haven’t heard of it, and should you be worried that you have not been considering it in all your cases.  If you are defence counsel, you may similarly be wondering what it is, why you...

Blaney McMurtry LLP, Ontario, March 20, 2014 – On February 19, 2014, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in Kozel v The Personal Insurance Company, 2014 ONCA 130. The case will be of interest to auto insurers and representatives presented with “authorized by law to drive” issues. Its significance, however, is broader. The appellate court’s holdings with respect to relief from...

Blaney McMurtry LLP, Ontario, March 19, 2014 – It has been almost 18 years since a Conservative government implemented Ontario’s third major tort reform automobile compensation system. It came into force on October 23, 1996. That fall I presented my first iteration of this paper which explained how tort damages should be calculated under this new system. Since then, significant changes have been...