Louis Antoniadis v. TD General Insurance Company, 2016 ONFSCDRS 234

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

Neutral Citation: 2016 ONFSCDRS 234

FSCO A12-003704

BETWEEN:

LOUIS ANTONIADIS

Applicant

and

TD GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY

Insurer

REASONS FOR DECISION

Before: Arbitrator John Wilson

Heard: June 3, 2016, at the offices of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario in Toronto

Appearances: Franklyn Taylor for Mr. Antoniadis Monika Drobnicki for TD General Insurance Company

Issues:

The Applicant, Louis Antoniadis, was injured in a motor vehicle accident on November 12, 2009. He applied for and received statutory accident benefits from TD General Insurance Company (“TD General”), payable under the Schedule.¹ The parties were unable to resolve their disputes through mediation, and Mr. Antoniadis applied for arbitration at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario under 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 Regulation 664, R.R.O. 1990 as amended.

The issue in this hearing is:

Should the claims brought by the late Mr. Antoniadis be dismissed?

Result:

Mr. Antoniadis' claims are hereby dismissed.

EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS:

A hearing of the motion to dismiss this arbitration, originally instituted by Mr. Antoniadis prior to his death, was brought by TD General. Both counsel were present and spoke to the motion.

The motion was based on the apparent abandonment of the arbitration by Mr. Antoniadis and, later, by his estate.

I am satisfied that all discernable interested parties to this motion have been properly served and have notice of the proceeding.

As noted, there has been some significant delay in moving this proceeding along. Although the Application for Arbitration was filed on June 15, 2012, the pre-hearing process is still not completed, despite attempts to so do, with no date for the hearing of the substantive issues in this arbitration ever being set.

Prior to his demise, Mr. Antoniadis hired and fired several representatives, but this only accounted for some of the earlier delays. From June 10, 2014, when Mr. Taylor was first retained by Mr. Antoniadis, until present, there was no progress in moving this arbitration towards resolution or hearing. In fact, nothing happened, an absence of progress that is now explained by the serious illness and later death of Mr. Antoniadis from what was reported as brain cancer.

An inference may be drawn that Mr. Taylor had no instructions from Mr. Antoniadis, and later no-one to give instructions with the passing of the Applicant.

Now, thanks to the perseverance of counsel for the Insurer in pursuing this matter, it has been reliably confirmed that the estate of Mr. Antoniadis has been administered or probated and that a lawyer, Ms. Elahim Moaveni, has been representing the estate in other matters. Consequently, when Mr. Taylor appeared on behalf of Mr. Antoniadis' estate at the motion hearing, there was authority in place for him to receive instructions as to the disposition of the Insurer`s motion.

Mr. Taylor advised that the estate would be content to have the motion to dismiss go as requested, providing that any dismissal order would be suspended for 30 days to allow for the completion of settlement discussions which were currently under way.

The corollary of that disposition would be that, should the estate for any reason, wish to proceed with this arbitration, it must indicate its intentions in writing to the Commission and the Insurer, and provide proof of the appointment of a duly appointed estate representative, be it administrator or trustee, within the same time frame, failing which the formal dismissal order would issue.

Both counsel present were content with the proposed order and consented to its issuance on the above terms.

Consequently, I ordered that this arbitration be dismissed 30 days from the date of the motion hearing, unless a duly appointed representative of the Estate of Mr. Antoniadis has given formal written notice of the intent to continue the arbitration in the name of the estate of the late Mr. Antoniadis, and has provided copies of the order of appointment for the administrator, or trustee, as the case may be, by whom the decision to continue the arbitration is made.

I note that the solicitor for the estate was aware of the motion and was provided with a copy of my June 3, 2016 order.

The time set out in the order having elapsed, and having received nothing from the estate of the late Mr. Antoniadis, or indeed any communication from anyone suggesting that someone with due authority intends to proceed with this arbitration, I order that the arbitration be dismissed.

EXPENSES:

Given the circumstances of this case and the fact that no expenses were claimed at the motion hearing, I make no order as to expenses.

September 6, 2016

John Wilson Date Arbitrator