Neutral Citation: 1999 ONFSCDRS 147
FSCO A97-000495
FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMISSION OF ONTARIO
BETWEEN:
TRIEU BUI
Applicant
and
ROYAL INSURANCE COMPANY OF CANADA
Insurer
REASONS FOR DECISION
Before:
Frederika Rotter
Heard:
July 19, 1999, at the Offices of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario in Toronto.
Appearances:
Mr. Bui did not appear and no one appeared on his behalf
John J. Aikins for Royal Insurance Company of Canada
Issues:
The Applicant, Trieu Bui, was injured in a motor vehicle accident on April 10, 1992, while returning home from work at an out-of-town location. He applied for workers' compensation benefits but was refused. He then applied for and received statutory accident benefits from Royal Insurance Company of Canada ("Royal"), payable under the Schedule.1 Royal terminated weekly income benefits on April 16, 1995. Mr. Bui claimed he was entitled to ongoing benefits.
On October 13, 1998 the Workers' Compensation Appeals Tribunal ("WCAT"), now the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal ("WSIAT") issued a decision finding that Mr. Bui was in the course of his employment at the time of the accident and therefore entitled to claim workers' compensation benefits. The parties were unable to resolve their disputes through mediation, and Mr. Bui applied for arbitration at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario under the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.I.8, as amended.
The issue in this hearing is:
- Is Mr. Bui entitled to further benefits from Royal?
Result:
Royal is not obliged to pay further benefits to Mr. Bui.
Mr. Bui must pay Royal's expenses fixed at $500.
EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS:
Neither Mr. Bui nor his counsel attended at the hearing to speak to the issue in dispute.
Mr. Aikins, counsel for Royal, attended the hearing and submitted a document brief. From the documents filed, I find that the WCAT (now WSIAT) has overturned the earlier decision of the Workers' Compensation Board, and determined that the motor vehicle accident of April 10, 1992 indeed arose out of and in the course of Mr. Bui's employment. That being the case, Mr. Bui is entitled to claim workers' compensation benefits, and the insurer is not obliged to pay further benefits under the Schedule.2
Royal has taken steps to obtain reimbursement from the Board for benefits it paid to Mr. Bui.
EXPENSES:
Mr. Aikins indicated that prior to the hearing Royal was willing to consent to the dismissal of the arbitration without costs. However, in the interim, Mr. Bui had changed addresses and could not be reached regarding the resolution of this matter. It appears that Mr. Bui had not contacted either his counsel, the Commission or the Insurer regarding his whereabouts, for the purposes of concluding this arbitration in an expeditious manner.
Accordingly, Mr. Aikins was obliged to attend the hearing. He submitted that Mr. Bui's claims should be dismissed, and that Royal should be allowed its modest expenses ($500) of the hearing.
The application for arbitration in this matter was commenced after amendments to the Insurance Act were passed in 1996. These amendments allow an arbitrator to award expenses in favour of an insurer. Rule 73 of the Dispute Resolution Practice Code sets out criteria for the arbitrator's consideration when awarding expenses. Under paragraph 73.2(b) an arbitrator may consider any conduct of a party that "tended to prolong, obstruct or hinder the proceeding..." I find by failing to maintain contact with his lawyer, the Commission and Royal, and by failing to attend the hearing, Mr Bui effectively prolonged, hindered or obstructed the speedy resolution of this matter.
Royal is accordingly entitled to its expenses in the amount of $500.
July 27, 1999
Frederika Rotter
Senior Arbitrator
Date
Neutral Citation: 1999 ONFSCDRS 147
FSCO A97-000495
FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMISSION OF ONTARIO
BETWEEN:
TRIEU BUI
Applicant
and
ROYAL INSURANCE COMPANY OF CANADA
Insurer
ARBITRATION ORDER
Under section 282 of the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.I.8, as amended, it is ordered that:
Mr. Bui's application for arbitration is dismissed.
Mr. Bui shall pay Royal its expenses of the arbitration hearing, fixed in the amount of $500.
July 27, 1999
Frederika Rotter
Senior Arbitrator
Date
Footnotes
- The Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule —Accidents On or Between June 22, 1990 and December 31, 1993, Regulation 672 of R.R.O. 1990, as amended by Ontario Regulations 660/93 and 779/93.
- Section 20 of the Schedule provides : The insurer will not pay benefits under this Schedule in respect of any insured person who, as a result of an accident, is entitled to receive benefits under any workers' compensation law or plan.