Ajmal Servery v. Economical Mutual Insurance Company, 2013 ONFSCDRS 86

Financial Services Commission des

Commission services financiers

of Ontario de l’Ontario

Neutral Citation: 2013 ONFSCDRS 86

FSCO A12-000205

BETWEEN:

AJMAL SERVERY

Applicant

and

ECONOMICAL MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY

Insurer

REASONS FOR DECISION

Before: Richard Feldman

Heard: May 24, 2013, at the offices of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario in Toronto

Appearances: No one appearing for Mr. Servery

Nicholaus de Koning for Economical Mutual Insurance Company

Issues:

The Applicant, Ajmal Servery, claims to have been injured in a motor vehicle accident on March 7, 2009. He applied for statutory accident benefits from Economical Mutual Insurance Company (“Economical”), payable under the Schedule.¹ Disputes arose between the parties concerning the Applicant’s entitlement to certain accident benefits. The parties were unable to resolve their disputes through mediation, and Mr. Servery applied for arbitration at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (“FSCO”) under the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.I.8, as amended.

The issues in dispute are identified as follows in the Application for Arbitration:

Is Mr. Servery entitled to receive income replacement benefits of $400.00 per week from March 7, 2009 through March 7, 2011 (less amounts paid by Economical)?
Is Mr. Servery entitled to attendant care benefits of $628.00 per month from March 7, 2009 through March 7, 2011 (less amounts paid by Economical)?
Is Mr. Servery entitled to payments for housekeeping and home maintenance services in the amount of $100.00 per week from March 7, 2009 through March 7, 2011 (less amounts paid by Economical) for the services provided by Farzana Qalanderi and others?
Is Economical liable to pay a special award because it unreasonably withheld or delayed payments to Mr. Servery?
Is Economical liable to pay Mr. Servery’s expenses in respect of the arbitration?
Is Mr. Servery liable to pay Economical’s expenses in respect of the arbitration?
Is Mr. Servery entitled to interest for the overdue payment of benefits?

Result:

This application is dismissed.
Mr. Servery shall pay to Economical its expenses of this proceeding, fixed in the sum of $750.00.

EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS:

The Application for Arbitration was filed on behalf of the Applicant on or about January 17, 2012. Subsequently, the Applicant’s legal representative was permitted to get off the record due to a breakdown in the solicitor-client relationship. A date was set for the pre-hearing conference (April 25, 2013). Written notice of the pre-hearing conference was mailed by FSCO to the Applicant at his last known address. The Applicant failed to attend the pre-hearing conference. A date was then set for the hearing of this matter on May 24, 2013. Written notice was again sent by FSCO to the Applicant at his last known address. I also advised the Applicant in a letter dated April 25, 2013 that if he failed to attend before me on May 24, 2013, the hearing would likely proceed in his absence and that, without witnesses or documents to support his case, the application would likely be dismissed and he might also be ordered to pay Economical’s expenses related to this proceeding.

On May 24, 2013, Nicholaus de Koning, counsel for Economical, appeared before me as did Ray Ramsarran from Economical. Despite waiting until 11:30 a.m., the Applicant never appeared before me. Mr. de Koning requested that this application be dismissed on the basis that it appears to have been abandoned and there is no evidence before me to support the claims made by the Applicant. Mr. de Koning also requested that Economical be granted its expenses of this proceeding, fixed in the amount of $750.00. I found both requests to be reasonable and I announced orally that I would be issuing the order requested by the Insurer.

July 2, 2013

Richard Feldman

Arbitrator

Date