Ian Kirby

This is an appeal from an arbitration decision concerning a priority dispute between two insurers, Allstate and Intact, regarding statutory accident benefits for Ming Wu Yan.

The central issue was whether Yan was "principally dependent for financial support or care" on her daughter or son-in-law, which would make her an insured person under Allstate's policy.

The court upheld the arbitrator's finding that Yan was principally financially dependent, dismissing Allstate's appeal.

The court affirmed the arbitrator's decision not to impute monetary value to Yan's caregiving services and to exclude her foreign pension income, which was unavailable in Canada, from the dependency analysis.

The court also confirmed that the test for financial dependency requires a holistic "big picture" approach, not solely a mathematical calculation.

Following a jury verdict in a statutory accident benefits action, the court determined post‑trial issues concerning transportation expense deductibles, interest on overdue benefits, and costs.

The insurer argued that the statutory 50‑kilometre deductible applied to transportation expenses and sought to call additional evidence, but the court refused and held the deductible did not apply because the insurer had waived it and the insured was unable to drive during the relevant period.

On the issue of interest under the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule, the court applied appellate authority holding that interest on overdue benefits runs from the date the benefit first became overdue, even if the insurer did not know the correct amount at the time.

The court also considered competing offers to settle and concluded that the plaintiff was the successful party overall.

Costs were awarded to the plaintiff on a partial indemnity basis.