Abdul Nahsari v. Belair Insurance Company Inc., 2002 ONFSCDRS 50

Neutral Citation: 2002 ONFSCDRS 50

FSCO A00-001283

BETWEEN:

ABDUL NAHSARI

Applicant

and

BELAIR INSURANCE COMPANY INC.

Insurer

DECISION ON EXPENSES

Before:

Joyce Miller

Heard:

Written submissions received by January 25, 2002.

Appearances:

George Malakassiotis for Mr. Nahsari

Scott W. Densem for Belair Insurance Company Inc.

Issues:

The Applicant, Abdul Nahsari, was injured in a motor vehicle accident on March 7, 1998. In a decision dated December 5, 2001, I dealt with his claims for Statutory Accident Benefits under the Schedule.¹ I made the following orders, while reserving on the issue of expenses:

Mr. Nahsari is precluded from proceeding to arbitration because his Application for Arbitration was filed beyond the two-year limitation period set out in subsection 281(5) of the Insurance Act and subsection 51(1) of the Schedule. This arbitration is dismissed.

The issues in this further hearing are:

Is Mr. Nahsari entitled to his expenses incurred in respect of this arbitration hearing?
Is Belair entitled to its expenses incurred in respect of this arbitration?

Result:

The matter of expenses is deferred to the arbitrator hearing the remaining outstanding issues for arbitration.

BACKGROUND

On December 5, 2000, based on the parties' written submissions, I issued a decision which dismissed Mr. Nahsari's claim for caregiver benefits, housekeeping and medical and rehabilitation benefits on the grounds that he was out of time. After the decision was released, the parties advised that there were some medical rehabilitation expenses in the original Application for Arbitration, in the amount of $3,025.65, which were still in dispute but, were not time-barred.

In a letter dated December 24, 2001 by Belair to Mr. Nahsari's representative and copied to me, Belair confirmed that the parties were unable to settle the outstanding amount and are proceeding to arbitration on this outstanding matter.

Although the parties have provided me with written submissions on the issue of expenses for the preliminary issue, I find that since the arbitration hearing is proceeding on the outstanding issues then it would be best left to the discretion of the hearing arbitrator to deal with the global issue of expenses in this case.

Accordingly, I find that the issue of expenses on this preliminary hearing is deferred to the hearing arbitrator.

March 22, 2002

Joyce Miller Arbitrator

Date