Financial Services Commission des

Commission services financiers

of Ontario de l’Ontario

Neutral Citation: 2013 ONFSCDRS 62

FSCO A11-004363

BETWEEN:

ARAVINDAN SIVAGNANAM

Applicant

and

NOVEX INSURANCE COMPANY

Insurer

Before: Arbitrator Jeffrey Rogers

Heard: April 12, 2013, at the offices of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario in Toronto

Appearances: Ms. Antonetta Alfano, counsel for Novex Insurance Company

No one appearing for Mr. Sivagnanam

The issues in this hearing are:

Should the application for arbitration be dismissed because Mr. Sivagnanam did not attend the hearing?
Is Novex entitled to its expenses of the arbitration, and if so, in what amount?

Result:

This application is dismissed.
Novex is entitled to its expenses of the arbitration in the amount of $1,000.00.

Background:

The Applicant, Aravindan Sivagnanam, was injured in a motor vehicle accident on April 22, 2010. He applied for and received statutory accident benefits from Novex Insurance Company (“Novex”), payable under the Schedule.¹ Disputes arose regarding his entitlement to further benefits. The parties were unable to resolve their disputes through mediation, and Mr. Sivagnanam applied for arbitration at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario under the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.I.8, as amended.

A pre-hearing discussion was scheduled to be held on November 28, 2012. At that time, Mr. Sivagnanam was represented by counsel. He attended along with his counsel. Counsel sought removal from the record. Mr. Sivagnanam did not oppose the request and I granted it. I imposed a term that Mr. Sivagnanam was to be given a copy of his file, within 7 days. I adjourned the pre-hearing to January 14, 2013 to give Mr. Sivagnanam an opportunity to retain new counsel.

Mr. Sivagnanam did not attend on Janaury 14, 2013. I proceeded with the pre-hearing and scheduled the hearing for April 12, 2013. I wrote to Mr. Sivagnanam informing him that the application for arbitration would likely be dismissed if he did not attend. The Commission also sent Mr. Sivagnam a Notice of Hearing containing the warning that the matter may be disposed of in his absence if he did not attend. Mr. Sivagnanam did not attend the hearing. Neither the Commission nor Novex has heard from Mr. Sivagnanam, or from anyone representing him, since November 28, 2012.

ANALYSIS:

I am satisfied that Mr. Sivagnanam was given Notice all of the proceedings in this arbitration, as required by Rules 5.7 and 7.1 of the Dispute Resolution Practice Code. Mr. Sivagnanam appears to have lost interest in pursuing this application. I know of no reason not to proceed in his absence.

Mr. Sivagnanam bears the onus of proving entitlement to the accident benefits he claimed. Since no evidence was provided to support the claims, his application for arbitration is dismissed.

EXPENSES:

I find that Novex is entitled to its expenses of the hearing, based on its complete success. I find its claim for expenses of $1,000.00 to be reasonable. I have therefore ordered Mr. Sivagnanam to pay Novex its expenses of the arbitration in the amount of $1,000.00.

May 14, 2013

Jeffrey Rogers

Arbitrator

Date