H. Wayne Snyder

The defendants brought a motion to strike out portions of the plaintiff's statement of claim alleging negligent investigation, malicious prosecution, and Charter breaches, arguing they were barred by issue estoppel following a police disciplinary hearing.

The court found that while the elements of issue estoppel were met, it would be unjust to apply the doctrine because the disciplinary hearing used a higher 'clear and convincing evidence' standard of proof compared to the civil balance of probabilities standard.

The motion to strike was dismissed, but the action was transferred to Stratford on consent.

The appellant was injured in a motor vehicle accident and received statutory accident benefits until the insurer terminated them.

After an unsuccessful mediation, the appellant waited almost five years to commence an action claiming damages for the insurer's bad faith conduct in terminating the benefits.

The insurer successfully moved to strike the claim as statute-barred under the two-year limitation period in s. 281(5) of the Insurance Act.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, holding that any dispute 'in respect of' an insurer's refusal to pay no-fault benefits, including bad faith claims, must be brought within the two-year limitation period.