Lawrence Foy

The insurer applied for a determination of whether s. 45 of the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule requires an insured to identify a single accident when applying for a catastrophic impairment designation.

The insured had been involved in three motor vehicle accidents and submitted a single OCF‑19 application claiming catastrophic impairment based on the cumulative effects of all three accidents.

The court interpreted the legislation and regulatory scheme and concluded that the catastrophic impairment determination must be anchored to a single identified accident.

However, the insured may still rely on the cumulative impact of prior accidents where the specified accident represents the tipping point leading to catastrophic impairment.

The court therefore granted the application in part and declared that the application must specify one accident.

The plaintiffs were successful at a jury trial for damages arising from a motor vehicle accident, with the defendant Hann found fully liable and the defendant Albright found not liable.

In this post-trial endorsement, the court addressed several issues including costs, policy limits, and Family Law Act damages.

The court found the plaintiffs' motion regarding the insurer's policy limits premature.

The court granted a Sanderson order, requiring the unsuccessful defendant to pay the successful defendant's costs, finding it was reasonable for the plaintiffs to keep the successful defendant in the action.

The court fixed the plaintiffs' costs on a partial and substantial indemnity basis.

Finally, the court upheld the jury's award of Family Law Act damages to the plaintiff mother for 'on-demand guidance' provided to her brain-injured daughter, finding such support compensable as 'other services' under s. 61(1)(d) of the Family Law Act.