Neutral Citation: 2002 ONFSCDRS 138
FSCO A00-001228
FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMISSION OF ONTARIO
BETWEEN:
THOM HO
Applicant
and
ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY OF CANADA
Insurer
REASONS FOR DECISION
Before:
David Muir
Heard:
September 3, 2002, at the offices of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario in Toronto.
Appearances:
David Pham for Mr. Ho
Todd J. McCarthy for Allstate Insurance Company of Canada
Issues:
The Applicant, Thom Ho, claims to have been injured in a motor vehicle accident on September 5, 1999. He applied for statutory accident benefits from Allstate Insurance Company of Canada ("Allstate"), payable under the Schedule.1 The parties were unable to resolve their disputes through mediation, and Mr. Ho applied for arbitration at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario under the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.I.8, as amended.
This arbitration was scheduled to be heard at the same time as three other, apparently, related arbitrations. No formal order with respect to combining the four applications2 has ever been made, however the parties and the Commission have dealt with them together. Although dealt with in this manner in the hearing before me, I have released four separate decisions confirming my oral rulings.3
At the outset of the hearing, Allstate sought an order dismissing the arbitration on the basis of Mr. Ho's failure to comply with an order of Arbitrator Baltman, dated May 28, 2002. In the alternative, Allstate sought an order that Mr. Ho comply with the order forthwith.
The order in question required that:
[Mr. Ho] shall pay Allstate the sum of $500.00 for expenses within 45 days of this letter, failing which Allstate may contact the Commission for further direction, including possible dismissal of the claim.
The order had not been complied with by the time of the hearing.
The Applicant argued that it would be prejudicial to dismiss the arbitration in the circumstances. It was further submitted that Allstate had paid no benefits to Mr. Ho and, as a result, he was unable to pay the amount in question.
After hearing the submissions of the parties, I adjourned the hearing for 15 minutes to give counsel time to confer with his clients. After the brief adjournment, Mr. Ho indicated that he was still not in compliance with the Arbitrator's order.
At the hearing I ruled that the arbitration be stayed until Mr. Ho complied with the order of Arbitrator Baltman.
September 5, 2002
David Muir Arbitrator
Date
Neutral Citation: 2002 ONFSCDRS 138
FSCO A00-001228
FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMISSION OF ONTARIO
BETWEEN:
THOM HO
Applicant
and
ALLSTATE 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:
- The arbitration is stayed until Mr. Ho complies with the order of Arbitrator Baltman, dated May 28, 2002.
September 5, 2002
David Muir Arbitrator
Date
Footnotes
- The Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule — Accidents on or after November 1, 1996, Ontario Regulation 403/96, as amended by Ontario Regulations 462/96, 505/96, 551/96, 303/98, 114/00 and 482/01.
- Rule 30 of the Dispute Resolution Practice Code (3rd Edition, April 15, 1997) provides (or, amongst other options), the combining of arbitrations that appear to have an issue or question of law, fact, or policy in common; or the application of this Rule will result in the quickest, most just, and least expensive means to deal with the Applications. No such order appears to have been made in these cases, although they have, from the outset, been scheduled together and dealt with as if they had been combined in some way.
- See as well: Trang Khong; Ut Nguyen; Binh Van Phan and Allstate Insurance Company of Canada, (FSCO A00-001228, September 5, 2002)