David Gill

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

The applicant's representative brought a motion to be removed from the record due to a complete breakdown in the relationship with the applicant.

The applicant did not oppose the motion and requested a brief adjournment to obtain new representation.

The arbitrator granted the motion, removing the representative from the record, and adjourned the hearing to allow the applicant to retain new counsel and fulfill outstanding undertakings.

The insurer sought a stay of arbitration under section 50(b) of the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule until the applicant attended a psychiatric examination under section 42.

The applicant argued the examination was unreasonable because the insurer had already terminated her income replacement benefits based on physical assessments and had acted in bad faith.

The arbitrator found that the applicant had placed her psychological condition in issue by submitting a psychologist's report indicating she was disabled due to psychological impairments.

The arbitrator held that the requested examination was reasonably required and ordered the applicant to attend the assessment before proceeding to arbitration on her income replacement benefits claim.