Saturday Enaziegbeneguan v. Pafco Insurance Company, 2013 ONFSCDRS 130

Financial Services Commission des

Commission services financiers

of Ontario de l’Ontario

Neutral Citation: 2013 ONFSCDRS 130

FSCO A11-004581

BETWEEN:

SATURDAY ENAZIEGBENEGUAN

Applicant

and

PAFCO INSURANCE COMPANY

Insurer

REASONS FOR DECISION

Before: Edward Lee

Heard: July 17, 2013, at the offices of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario in Toronto

Appearances: Kwaku Bona appeared for Mr. Enaziegbeneguan, but withdrew from the proceeding

Paul Kiddey for Pafco Insurance Company

Issues:

The Applicant, Saturday Enaziegbeneguan, was injured in a motor vehicle accident on June 2, 2010. He applied for statutory accident benefits from Pafco Insurance Company (“Pafco”), payable under the Schedule.¹ Pafco disputed some or all of the benefits claimed. The parties were unable to resolve their disputes through mediation, and Mr. Enaziegbeneguan applied for arbitration at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario under the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.I.8, as amended.

Issues:

The issues in this hearing are:

Should Mr. Enaziegbeneguan’s application for arbitration be dismissed?

Result:

The application for arbitration is dismissed.

This proceeding arose after Mr. Enaziegbeneguan failed to attend at a pre-hearing discussion which took place at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario on March 18, 2013. Mr. Bona attended on that date but stated he had been unable to contact his client and had no explanation for his absence. As a result of that non-appearance, Arbitrator Muzzi set the matter down for a hearing on July 17, 2013, and a letter and notice of hearing were sent to Mr. Enaziegbeneguan.

In the interim, there were no communications from Mr. Enaziegbeneguan to the Commission, and his counsel gave notice that they would seek to withdraw from the record as representatives for Mr. Enaziegbeneguan on July 17, 2013.

Request to Withdraw from Proceeding:

The representatives came before me on the date of the hearing. Mr. Bona appeared for Mr. Enaziegbeneguan. Mr. Kiddey appeared for Pafco. Mr. Enaziegbeneguan was again absent without explanation. Mr. Bona informed me that they were still unable to contact Mr. Enaziegbeneguan, and had information that he had departed the country for Nigeria. Mr. Bona then requested that his office be removed from the record as representatives for Mr. Enaziegbeneguan, citing a breakdown of communication and an inability to receive instructions.

Pafco did not oppose the motion. I was satisfied that Mr. Bona’s office had fulfilled the requirements of section 9.7 of the Dispute Resolution Practice Code, and I thereby permitted Mr. Bona’s office to withdraw from the proceeding. Mr. Bona then departed from the hearing room.

Hearing:

At this point, Pafco sought to have the application for arbitration dismissed. In this matter, Mr. Enaziegbeneguan bore the burden of proof. He did not attend at his hearing, and no evidence was presented in regard to his application.

I am therefore dismissing the application.

EXPENSES:

Pafco sought expenses from Mr. Enaziegbeneguan and presented a Bill of Costs. I find Pafco is entitled to $500.00, inclusive of HST, for its expenses.

October 4, 2013

Edward Lee

Arbitrator

Date