Financial Services Commission des Commission services financiers of Ontario de l’Ontario
Neutral Citation: 2016 ONFSCDRS 159
FSCO A14-005603 and A14-010360
BETWEEN:
JANELLE CADINE NELSON and MARIAH GUY
Applicants
and
PAFCO INSURANCE COMPANY
Insurer
DECISION ON EXPENSES
Before: Arbitrator Benjamin Drory
Heard: By written submissions completed April 18, 2016
Appearances: Ms. Janelle Cadine Nelson and Ms. Mariah Guy did not participate Mr. Matthew Owen participated for Pafco Insurance Company
Issues:
The Applicants, Ms. Janelle Cadine Nelson and Ms. Mariah Guy, were injured in a motor vehicle accident on November 11, 2012 and sought accident benefits from Pafco Insurance Company (“Pafco”), payable under the Schedule.1 The parties were unable to resolve their disputes through mediation, and Ms. Nelson and Ms. Guy, through their 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 issue in this Expense Hearing is:
- Is Pafco entitled to its expenses of the proceeding?
Result:
- Pafco is entitled to expenses in the amount of $2,809.37 respecting Ms. Nelson and $2,067.05 respecting Ms. Guy.
EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS:
By order, dated March 21, 2016, I dismissed Ms. Nelson and Ms. Guy’s Applications for Arbitration, as the Applicants did not appear at their Hearing on February 8, 2016 and no evidence was presented to support their claims. Ms. Nelson and Ms. Guy’s former legal representative, Kanevsky Law Office Professional Corporation, was removed from the record as their representative on February 8, 2016. I invited all parties to independently submit written submissions to me respecting expenses within 30 days of the date of the order.
I received submissions from Mr. Owen, on Pafco’s behalf, dated April 18, 2016. No submissions were received from either Ms. Nelson or Ms. Guy. Pafco sought expenses in the amount of $2,809.37 respecting Ms. Nelson and in the amount of $2,067.05 respecting Ms. Guy. I have reviewed the submissions and confirmed that the breakdowns of those amounts conform with the hourly rates awardable for professional legal services as per s. 78 of the Dispute Resolution Practice Code and Schedule 2 to the General Regulation (O. Reg. 107/99) under the Legal Aid Services Act, 1998.
I agree with Pafco’s submissions that it was totally successful in the outcome of the proceeding. The proceedings were also unnecessarily prolonged by the Applicants’ failure to participate. I was not provided with any reasoning by the Applicants that would suggest that either of the amounts claimed by Pafco are improper. To the contrary, on the basis of the information I received during the course of this case, they appeared proper. Accordingly, I award the full amounts claimed in expenses—$2,809.37 respecting Ms. Nelson and $2,067.05 respecting Ms. Guy.
EXPENSES:
Pafco is entitled to expenses in the amount of $2,809.37 respecting Ms. Nelson and $2,067.05 respecting Ms. Guy.
June 6, 2016
Benjamin Drory Arbitrator
Date
Financial Services Commission des Commission services financiers of Ontario de l’Ontario
Neutral Citation: 2016 ONFSCDRS 159
FSCO A14-005603 and A14-010360
BETWEEN:
JANELLE CADINE NELSON and MARIAH GUY
Applicants
and
PAFCO INSURANCE COMPANY
Insurer
ARBITRATION ORDER
Under section 282 of the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. I.8, as it read immediately before being amended by Schedule 3 to the Fighting Fraud and Reducing Automobile Insurance Rates Act, 2014, and Ontario Regulation 664, as amended, it is ordered that:
- Pafco is entitled to expenses in the amount of $2,809.37 respecting Ms. Nelson and $2,067.05 respecting Ms. Guy.
June 6, 2016
Benjamin Drory Arbitrator
Date
Footnotes
- The Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule - Effective September 1, 2010, Ontario Regulation 34/10, as amended.