Financial Services Commission des Commission services financiers of Ontario de l’Ontario
Neutral Citation: 2015 ONFSCDRS 28
FSCO A13-009365
BETWEEN:
GREG DAVEY
Applicant
and
INTACT INSURANCE COMPANY
Insurer
REASONS FOR DECISION
Before: Richard Feldman
Heard: January 19, 2015, at the offices of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario in Toronto.
Appearances: Robert Kimball for Mr. Davey Jeffrey Goit for Intact Insurance Company
Issues:
The Applicant, Greg Davey, claims that he was injured in a motor vehicle accident on January 26, 2013. He applied for statutory accident benefits from Intact Insurance Company (“Intact”), 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. Davey applied for arbitration at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario under the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.I.8, as amended.
The issues in this hearing are:
Is Mr. Davey entitled to receive the following medical benefits related to treatment recommended by Nattya Senthilnathan, occupational therapist, from Rehab First Inc.:
a. $2,932.58 for the outstanding cost ($3,688.88 less $756.30) of treatment recommended in a plan dated April 4, 2013?
b. $2,461.96 for the cost of treatment recommended in a plan dated May 3, 2013?
Is Mr. Davey entitled to interest for the overdue payment of these benefits?
Is Intact liable to pay a special award because it unreasonably withheld or delayed payments to Mr. Davey?
Is either party liable to pay the expenses of the other party in respect of this proceeding?
Result:
- This application is dismissed.
EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS:
The Applicant failed to attend the hearing. No evidence was presented on behalf of the Applicant. The Applicant has failed to communicate with his legal representatives or to respond to numerous letters from them since November 2013. The Applicant failed to participate in the pre-hearing discussion in July 2014.
Shortly before the hearing (i.e., in December 2014), counsel for the Applicant requested that the hearing be adjourned in the hopes that the Applicant could be located so that he could provide instructions with respect to this matter. That request was denied by the arbitrator acting as Adjournment Officer (in December 2014) and by a Senior Arbitrator (in January 2015). Counsel for the Applicant renewed his request for an adjournment of the hearing when he appeared before me on January 19, 2015. He was unable, however, to satisfy me that there was any reasonable prospect that the Applicant would be located or would respond if the hearing was adjourned.
Prior to January 19, 2015, the Insurer had indicated that it was prepared to consent to a short adjournment. At the hearing before me on January 19, 2015, however, counsel for the Insurer advised that it now opposed the requested adjournment and asked that I dismiss this application as it appears to have been abandoned by the Applicant. Counsel for the Insurer advised that Intact is not seeking any expenses related to this proceeding.
Based upon the foregoing, I refused to adjourn the hearing and I announced that I would be granting the Insurer’s request to dismiss this application on a “without costs” basis.
February 17, 2015
Richard Feldman Date Arbitrator
Financial Services Commission des Commission services financiers of Ontario de l’Ontario
Neutral Citation: 2015 ONFSCDRS 28
FSCO A13-009365
BETWEEN:
GREG DAVEY
Applicant
and
INTACT INSURANCE COMPANY
Insurer
ARBITRATION ORDER
Under section 282 of the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.I.8, as amended, it is ordered that:
- This application is dismissed.
Feburary 17, 2015
Richard Feldman Date Arbitrator
Footnotes
- The Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule - Effective September 1, 2010, Ontario Regulation 34/10, as amended.