Anne Walker

The applicant was injured in a motor vehicle accident and applied for arbitration of statutory accident benefits claims.

The arbitrator previously dismissed the claims, finding the applicant had entered into a binding full and final settlement prior to retaining his current representative.

In this decision on expenses, the arbitrator considered the criteria under the Expense Regulation of the Insurance Act.

Finding that the insurer was completely successful and that no novel issues were raised, the arbitrator concluded the insurer was entitled to its expenses.

However, the arbitrator reduced the assessed fees by 40% to reflect the applicant's good faith in exploring the validity of the settlement, ultimately awarding the insurer $5,597.93 inclusive of GST.

The applicant was injured in a motor vehicle accident and applied for statutory accident benefits.

He retained a paralegal who negotiated a full and final settlement with the insurer.

The applicant later retained new counsel and sought to arbitrate further claims, arguing he did not understand the settlement or sign all the documents, and that the paralegal mistakenly signed the release.

The arbitrator found that the paralegal had ostensible and actual authority to settle the claim, and the insurer reasonably relied on that authority.

The applicant signed the statutorily required Settlement Disclosure Notice and did not rescind the settlement within the two-day cooling-off period.

The arbitrator concluded the applicant entered into a binding full and final settlement and is precluded from further arbitrating claims arising from the accident.