Jennifer Burns

The appellant appealed the dismissal of her action for a declaration of entitlement to statutory accident benefits.

She claimed the motor vehicle accident caused or contributed to her rheumatoid arthritis.

The trial judge found the accident was relatively minor and that the expert evidence did not establish it was more probable than not that the accident caused or triggered the onset of the arthritis.

The Court of Appeal found no error in the trial judge's approach to causation or assessment of the evidence and dismissed the appeal.

The applicants were involved in a motor vehicle accident and sought statutory accident benefits.

The insurer settled the outstanding accounts for medical and examination expenses directly with the service providers, obtaining full and final releases.

The applicants subsequently sought to proceed to arbitration for those same expenses.

On a preliminary issue, the arbitrator held that the claims could not proceed, as the insurer had validly settled the accounts directly with the providers under the Schedule and no further expenses were incurred by the applicants.

The insurer's request for costs against the applicants' legal representatives personally was dismissed, as the claims, while lacking merit, did not constitute an abuse of process.