Mr. Kodsi

The plaintiff brought an action for damages arising from a motor vehicle accident.

Following a jury trial where the defendant was found 100% at fault and the jury awarded $1,053 for general damages and $38,500 for past wage loss, the defendants brought a threshold motion arguing the plaintiff did not suffer a permanent serious impairment.

The trial judge granted the threshold motion, finding the plaintiff's evidence lacked credibility and was undermined by surveillance footage and medical records showing significant pre-existing chronic pain and narcotic use.

The court concluded the low-impact collision did not materially contribute to a diminution in her function.

The insurer sought repayment of statutory accident benefits paid to four applicants, alleging the motor vehicle accident was staged.

The applicants failed to attend the hearing.

Relying on uncontroverted accident reconstruction evidence, the arbitrator found the accident did not occur as reported and that the applicants received benefits as a result of wilful misrepresentation.

However, interpreting section 47(1)(a) of the Schedule strictly, the arbitrator held the insurer could only recover benefits paid directly to the insured persons, not those paid to third-party service providers.

Three applicants were ordered to repay the amounts paid directly to them, and all four were ordered to pay the insurer's arbitration expenses.

Following a jury trial arising from a motor vehicle accident, the court determined costs consequences after the plaintiff obtained a judgment significantly lower than the defendant’s Rule 49 offer to settle.

The jury awarded $100,000 in damages but the net payable amount after statutory deductions and contributory negligence was $49,000.

The court held that the defendant’s offer was substantially more favourable than the judgment and applied Rule 49.10 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

The plaintiff was awarded partial indemnity costs up to the date of the defendant’s offer, while the defendant received partial indemnity costs thereafter.

The court fixed the plaintiff’s costs to the date of the offer at $65,000 and the defendant’s costs after the offer at $95,000, with an additional $7,000 to the plaintiff for post‑trial motions.

The applicants sought statutory accident benefits following a motor vehicle collision.

The insurer denied the claims, alleging that the collision was staged and that the applicants wilfully misrepresented material facts.

At a preliminary issue hearing, the arbitrator considered evidence from the police officer, the occupants of the other vehicle, and accident reconstruction engineers.

The arbitrator rejected the insurer's theory that the collision was staged, finding no evidence of a conspiracy between the drivers and noting that the occupants of the other vehicle did not know the applicants.

The arbitrator concluded that the applicants were involved in an 'incident' within the meaning of section 2(1) of the Schedule and did not wilfully misrepresent material facts.

The issue of impairments was reserved for the main arbitration hearing.

Following a preliminary issue hearing where the Insurer successfully proved the Applicants were not involved in an accident, the Insurer sought its legal expenses.

The Arbitrator found the Insurer was entirely successful and entitled to its reasonable expenses.

The Arbitrator fixed the Insurer's expenses at $7,500, inclusive of fees and disbursements, and ordered the Applicants to be jointly and severally liable for this amount.