The parties brought a motion under Rule 22.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure for determination of a question of law by special case concerning uninsured automobile coverage.
The issue was whether a vehicle owned and driven by a spouse of the named insured, but uninsured at the time of the accident, qualified as an “uninsured automobile” under the standard Ontario automobile policy (O.P.F. 1) and s. 265 of the Insurance Act.
The court considered competing interpretations of the term “the insured” in the statutory exclusion and the definition of “insured” in s. 224 of the Insurance Act.
Applying principles of broad interpretation of coverage and narrow construction of exclusions, and relying on appellate jurisprudence, the court held that the term refers to the claimant rather than the named insured.
Accordingly, the vehicle was an uninsured automobile and coverage under the policy was available.
