Shorena Dghvilava v. Belair Insurance Company Inc., 2015 ONFSCDRS 119

Financial Services Commission des

Commission services financiers

of Ontario de l’Ontario

Neutral Citation: 2015 ONFSCDRS 119

FSCO A13-008812

BETWEEN:

SHORENA DGHVILAVA

Applicant

and

BELAIR INSURANCE COMPANY INC.

Insurer

REASONS FOR DECISION

Before: Deborah Pressman

Heard: May 1, 2015, at the offices of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario in Toronto.

Appearances: Ms. Dghvilava not appearing

David Carranza for Franklin Law Firm seeking removal from the record

Michael Hochberg for Belair Insurance Company Inc.

Issues:

Should Franklin Law Firm be permitted to withdraw as Ms. Dghvilava’s representative?
Should this arbitration be dismissed because Ms. Dghvilava has failed to participate in the process?

Result:

Franklin Law Firm is permitted to withdraw as Ms. Dghvilava’s representative.
This arbitration is dismissed.

EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS:

The Applicant, Shorena Dghvilava, was allegedly injured in a motor vehicle accident on April 9, 2010. She applied for statutory accident benefits from Belair Insurance Company Inc. (“Belair”), payable under the Schedule.¹ Disputes arose between the parties with respect to her entitlement to the benefits. The parties were unable to resolve their disputes through mediation, and Ms. Dghvilava applied for arbitration at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (“FSCO”) under the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.I.8, as amended.

A pre-hearing discussion was held on August 20, 2014 at FSCO with Arbitrator Bayefsky and an arbitration hearing was scheduled to proceed on October 5, 2015. In October 2014, Ms. Dghvilava’s representative, David Carranza, requested to withdraw as her representative on behalf of Franklin Law Firm. In January 2015, Belair requested that this file be combined with the related file of Mr. Giorgi Abelashvili (A13-007183). Mr. Abelashvilli, the applicant’s husband, was allegedly injured in the same accident.²

The parties came before me on February 13, 2015. David Carranza, requested to bring a motion to withdraw as Ms. Dghvilava’s representative on behalf of Franklin Law Firm. At the same time, Belair requested to bring a motion to dismiss the arbitration pursuant to Rule 68 of the DRPC.³ I scheduled both motions to proceed before me on May 1, 2015.

On February 18, 2015, I wrote to Ms. Dghvilava informing her that her representative was seeking to be removed from the record. I also informed her that Belair was seeking to dismiss her arbitration and if she did not attend the motions her arbitration would likely be dismissed. Ms. Dghvilava did not attend the motions and has not communicated with FSCO or with Franklin Law Firm.

I am satisfied that Ms. Dghvilava was given proper notice of both motions. I am also satisfied that there has been a breakdown in the relationship between Ms. Dghvilava and Franklin Law Firm, justifying its removal from the record as her representative.

Ms. Dghvilava appears to have lost interest in pursuing this arbitration. No evidence having been presented in support of her claims or her interest in pursuing her claims, this arbitration is dismissed.

June 2, 2015

Deborah Pressman

Arbitrator

Date