Ontario Insurance Commission
Neutral Citation: 1995 ONICDRG 5
File No. A-003702
BETWEEN:
VICTORIA ANIZOR Applicant
and
ROYAL INSURANCE COMPANY OF CANADA Insurer
DECISION
Issues:
The Applicant, Victoria Anizor, was injured in a motor vehicle accident on January 4, 1992. She applied for and received statutory accident benefits from the Insurer, payable under Ontario Regulation 6721. Ms. Anizor and the Insurer could not agree about whether she had received payment of weekly income benefits during a four-week period in 1993 and about certain supplementary medical and rehabilitation claims. The parties were unable to resolve their disputes through mediation and the Applicant applied for arbitration under the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.I.8, as amended.
The issues in this hearing are:
Is Ms. Anizor entitled to weekly income benefits for the period September 18 to October 16, 1993, plus interest as set out in section 24 of the Schedule?
Is Ms. Anizor entitled to the supplementary medical and rehabilitation expenses which she claims, including housekeeping, babysitting, dental expenses, and eyecare expenses for herself and her children?
Is Ms. Anizor entitled to a special award?
The Applicant also claims interest on any amounts outstanding and her expenses incurred in the hearing.
Result:
Ms. Anizor is entitled to weekly income benefits for the period September 18 to October 16, 1993.
Ms. Anizor is entitled to some of the supplementary medical and rehabilitation expenses which she claims as follows: $1,409.40 for housekeeping; $824.33 for babysitting; $571.28 for her personal dental expenses, all plus interest. She is not entitled to the amounts claimed for transportation expense or for optical expenses for her children.
Ms. Anizor is entitled to a special award of 50 per cent of the amount owing for weekly income benefits from September 18 to October 16, 1993, plus interest as provided under section 282(10) of the Insurance Act. Ms. Anizor is also entitled to a special award of 15 per cent of the amount owing for housekeeping expenses claimed during June 1993 ($960), and from December 6, 1993 to January 10, 1994 ($449.40), together with interest as provided under section 282(10) of the Insurance Act.
Ms. Anizor is entitled to her expenses of the arbitration.
Hearing:
The hearing was held in North York, Ontario, on November 14, 1994, before me, K. Julaine Palmer, arbitrator.
Present at the Hearing:
Applicant: Victoria Anizor
Applicant's Representative: J. B. Donnelly Barrister and Solicitor
Insurer's Representative: Wayne Edwards Barrister and Solicitor
Witnesses: Victoria Anizor Frederick Scott
The parties filed 19 exhibits at the hearing.
Evidence and Findings:
Weekly income benefits: September 18 to October 16, 1993
Partway through the hearing, after the Applicant had testified and been cross-examined, the Insurer conceded that the Applicant had never received a cheque for weekly income benefits for the period September 18 to October 16, 1993. The Insurer's counsel indicated that he would request a cheque for that amount, plus interest, as provided under the Schedule, forthwith. This matter was not withdrawn from the arbitration before me, however, as Applicant's counsel wished to make submissions with respect to the delay in determining that the payment for the above period was still outstanding.
Background
At the time of this accident, Ms. Anizor was living in Markham with her eldest daughter, then age 18, her sons, ages 17 and 15, and her youngest daughter, age 112. Ms. Anizor worked part-time for an institution known as Safe Haven, where she cared for severely handicapped children and teenagers. Ms. Anizor testified that although she was classified as a part-time worker, she would often be called upon to come in for more time, or to work double shifts, and averaged 3