The applicants were injured in a motor vehicle accident and applied for statutory accident benefits.
They commenced a civil proceeding for treatment expenses and an arbitration for weekly benefits.
The insurer brought a preliminary motion to require the applicants to discontinue the civil proceeding and have all issues determined in the arbitration, relying on recent amendments to the Insurance Act.
The Arbitrator found that the amendments to section 282(3) were substantive and did not apply retrospectively.
Applying the pre-amendment provisions, the Arbitrator held that the applicants were entitled to pursue distinct claims in different forums, as the issues were capable of being determined independently without risk of contradictory findings.
The insurer's motion was dismissed.
