Neutral Citation: 2002 ONFSCDRS 141
FSCO A00-001228
FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMISSION OF ONTARIO
BETWEEN:
BINH VAN PHAN
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:
No one appeared for Mr. Phan Todd J. McCarthy for Allstate Insurance Company of Canada
Issues:
The Applicant, Binh Van Phan, 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. Phan 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 had dealt with them together.3 All of the applicants had been represented by one individual until just shortly before the hearing date. Three of the applicants then chose a new representative. Mr. Phan did not join in this retainer.
At the time set for the hearing, Mr. Phan was not in attendance. Mr. Phan was not represented by counsel and no one else appeared on his behalf.4 By 10:40 a.m., the Applicant had not appeared and no explanation had been received for his failure to attend.
I satisfied myself that Mr. Phan had received notice of the hearing and had failed to attend. There being no evidence tendered in support of the application for arbitration, I dismissed it at the hearing.
EXPENSES:
Allstate sought its expenses in the amount of $1,500.00. Mr. Phan is subject to an order of Arbitrator Baltman dated May 28, 2002 that he pay costs of $500.00 to Allstate. This order has not been complied with.
I order Mr. Phan to pay to Allstate $500.00 as expenses of this arbitration.
September 5, 2002
David Muir Arbitrator
Date
Neutral Citation: 2002 ONFSCDRS 141
FSCO A00-001228
FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMISSION OF ONTARIO
BETWEEN:
BINH VAN PHAN
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 application for arbitration is dismissed.
Binh Van Phan shall pay $500.00 to Allstate for its expenses of this arbitration.
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; Thom Ho and Allstate Insurance Company of Canada, (FSCO A00-001228, September 5, 2002)
- By Arbitrator Renahan's letter dated August 16, 2002, Mr. Phan's representative was permitted to withdraw.