Grad Murray v. Intact Insurance Company, 2014 ONFSCDRS 136

Financial Services Commission des Commission services financiers of Ontario de l’Ontario

Neutral Citation: 2014 ONFSCDRS 136

FSCO A12-002963

BETWEEN:

GRAD MURRAY

Applicant

and

INTACT INSURANCE COMPANY

Insurer

REASONS FOR DECISION

Before: Deborah Pressman

Heard: June 3, 2014, at the offices of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario in Toronto.

Appearances: Mr. Murray not appearing Michael Gray for Jeffrey Gray (on the motion to withdraw) Tom Yen for Intact Insurance Company

Issues:

The Applicant, Grad Murray, was allegedly injured in a motor vehicle accident on May 3, 2008. He applied for statutory accident benefits from Intact Insurance Company (“Intact”), payable under the Schedule.¹ The parties were unable to resolve their disputes through mediation, and Mr. Murray applied for arbitration at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (“FSCO”).²

Despite notices, Mr. Murray failed to participate in the arbitration process and his representative brought a motion to withdraw as his solicitor of record.

The issues in this hearing are:

Should Jeffrey D. Gray be removed as Mr. Murray’s solicitor of record?
Should Mr. Murray’s Application for Arbitration be dismissed?
Is Intact entitled to its expenses incurred in respect of this arbitration?

Result:

Jeffrey D. Gray is removed as Mr. Murray’s solicitor of record.
Mr. Murray’s Application for Arbitration is dismissed.
Intact is entitled to its expenses in the amount of $1,500.00 incurred in respect of this arbitration.

EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS:

For the reasons that follow, Jeffrey Gray is permitted to be removed as Mr. Murray’s solicitor of record and Mr. Murray’s claims are dismissed.

Mr. Murray did not appear at the pre-hearing discussion on June 5, 2013. The pre-hearing proceeded in his absence and his arbitration hearing was scheduled to proceed on June 3, 2014. In February 2014, Mr. Murray’s counsel requested to withdraw as his representative. His motion was heard at the commencement of the arbitration hearing. Although Mr. Murray was advised of the consequences of his non-attendance,³ he did not appear at the motion or the hearing.

I am satisfied that Mr. Murray was given notice of this motion and hearing at his last known address, as required by Rule 9.1(c) of the Dispute Resolution Practice Code (Fourth Edition, Updated — August 2011) (DRPC).⁴ Pursuant to Rule 37.7 of the DRPC, the motion and arbitration hearing proceeded in his absence.

The withdrawal of Mr. Murray’s representative was not contested. I am satisfied that a breakdown in the solicitor-client relationship has occurred. Pursuant to Rule 9.8 of the DRPC, I am permitting Jeffrey Gray to be removed as Mr. Murray’s representative in this proceeding, without terms.

With respect to the accident benefits claims, Mr. Murray bears the onus of proving entitlement to the claimed benefits. Since he did not appear at the hearing and no evidence was presented to support his claims, this arbitration is dismissed.

EXPENSES:

In considering the number of hours of legal services (and permitted hourly rate) that can reasonably be claimed with respect to this matter, I find that $1,500.00 (inclusive of all costs, disbursements, and taxes) is appropriate and permitted under the Expense Regulation.

Pursuant to subsection 282(11) of the Insurance Act, Mr. Murray is ordered to pay Intact’s expenses in the amount of $1,500.00 (inclusive of all costs, disbursements and taxes).

August 19, 2014

Deborah Pressman Arbitrator

Date