Oksana Kripak

The insurer appealed an arbitrator's interim expenses decision requiring it to pay $150 to the insured for wasting time at a pre-hearing discussion.

The insurer argued the arbitrator erred by requiring it to negotiate a settlement and by ordering the expenses payable 'forthwith in any event of the cause'.

The Director's Delegate dismissed the appeal, finding the arbitrator did not require settlement but was entitled to enforce meaningful participation in the pre-hearing process.

The Delegate also found the arbitrator had evidence to support her decision and that the issue of the interim expenses order being payable 'in any event of the cause' was moot since the underlying matter had settled.

The applicant was injured in a motor vehicle accident and applied for statutory accident benefits, which the insurer denied.

At a pre-hearing discussion, the insurer refused to engage in settlement talks unless the applicant also discussed an unmediated claim from a second accident.

The arbitrator found the insurer's conduct inappropriate and ordered the insurer to pay $150 in costs for wasting the applicant's time.

Additionally, the arbitrator ordered the insurer to provide cogent reasons why a preliminary issue hearing regarding the applicant's alleged failure to attend medical examinations should proceed, given documentary evidence suggesting she had attended.