Financial Services Commission des
Commission services financiers
of Ontario de l’Ontario
Neutral Citation: 2016 ONFSCDRS 14
FSCO A14-010331
BETWEEN:
SMITH AMANKWA
Applicant
and
PERSONAL INSURANCE COMPANY OF CANADA
Insurer
REASONS FOR DECISION
Before: Arbitrator Benjamin Drory
Heard: By teleconference on December 4, 2015
Appearances: Mr. Smith Amankwa did not participate
Ms. Hermia Wai Ling Leung participated for Mr. Smith Amankwa
Mr. Michael Jordan participated for Personal Insurance Company of Canada
Issues:
The Applicant, Mr. Smith Amankwa, was injured in a motor vehicle accident on April 23, 2012, and sought accident benefits from Personal Insurance Company of Canada (“Personal”), payable under the Schedule.1 The parties were unable to resolve their disputes through mediation, and Mr. Amankwa, through his representative, 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:
Should Mr. Amankwa’s Application for Arbitration be dismissed?
Is Personal entitled to its expenses of the proceeding?
Result:
Mr. Amankwa’s Application for Arbitration is dismissed.
Personal is entitled to its expenses in the amount of $1,000.00. I order Mr. Amankwa to pay this amount to Personal forthwith.
EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS:
Chronology
A Pre-Hearing discussion in this case was held at the offices of ADR Chambers on November 16, 2015 at 9:00 a.m., at which Mr. Amankwa failed to appear.
On that same day, I sent a letter to Mr. Amankwa at his last known address to advise him of the missed Pre-Hearing discussion. The letter provided Mr. Amankwa with an Attendance Notice, setting a date of December 4, 2015, starting at 12:00 p.m., by teleconference, to hear the issues identified in the Application for Arbitration. The letter also advised, in bold lettering, that if Mr. Amankwa did not participate at that time, the Hearing may proceed in his absence, his Application for Arbitration may be dismissed, and Personal’s expenses of the Arbitration proceeding may be awarded against him.
The Dismissal
For the reasons that follow, Mr. Amankwa’s Application for Arbitration is dismissed.
Ms. Leung was unable to locate Mr. Amankwa during the three-week period following the Pre-Hearing. I am satisfied that she made multiple attempts to do so. Mr. Amankwa did not participate in the resumed proceeding on December 4, 2015.
I am satisfied that Mr. Amankwa was given notice of all of the proceedings related to his Arbitration at his last known address.
Pursuant to Rule 37.7 of the Dispute Resolution Practice Code, the Arbitration Hearing proceeded in his absence.
Mr. Amankwa 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:
I am satisfied that an award of expenses is appropriate. Personal verbally requested $3,000.00 in expenses. Ms. Leung requested in return that expenses be limited to $500.00.
I award Personal expenses in the amount of $1,000.00. This reflects only a fraction of the value of Mr. Jordan’s work to Personal over the course of this matter’s lifetime—but there are significant limits on how much of it can be recoverable under the rules guiding expenses. I am sympathetic to Ms. Leung’s attempts to locate Mr. Amankwa and to continue the process on his behalf—in spite of no good reason being advanced on Mr. Amankwa’s behalf why he didn’t participate on either occasion, and especially in the context that Ms. Leung had apparently been in touch with Mr. Amankwa on the Friday before the original Pre-Hearing. Mr. Amankwa’s non-participation led to a less favorable result for him than would likely have been possible had he participated.
January 13, 2016
Benjamin Drory
Arbitrator
Date
Financial Services Commission des
Commission services financiers
of Ontario de l’Ontario
Neutral Citation: 2016 ONFSCDRS 14
FSCO A14-010331
BETWEEN:
SMITH AMANKWA
Applicant
and
PERSONAL INSURANCE COMPANY OF CANADA
Insurer
ARBITRATION ORDER
Under section 282 of the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.I.8, as amended, it is ordered that:
Mr. Smith Amankwa’s Application for Arbitration is dismissed.
Personal is entitled to its expenses in the amount of $1,000.00. I order Mr. Smith Amankwa to pay this amount to Personal forthwith.
January 13, 2016
Benjamin Drory
Arbitrator
Date
Footnotes
- The Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule - Effective September 1, 2010, Ontario Regulation 34/10, as amended.