Financial Services Commission des Commission services financiers of Ontario de l’Ontario
Neutral Citation: 2016 ONFSCDRS 237
FSCO A15-002699
BETWEEN:
ORVILLE BROWN
Applicant
and
ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY OF CANADA
Insurer
REASONS FOR DECISION
Before: Rosemary Muzzi
Heard: June 17, 2016, at the offices of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario in Toronto
Appearances: Aida Davari for Mr. Brown Julie N. Singh for Allstate Insurance Company of Canada
Issues:
The Applicant, Orville Brown, was injured in a motor vehicle accident on May 28, 2012. He applied for statutory accident benefits from Allstate Insurance Company of Canada (“Allstate”), payable under the Schedule.1 Allstate paid some benefits and refused to pay others. The parties were unable to resolve their disputes through mediation, and Mr. Brown applied for arbitration at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario under the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.I.8, as amended, on April 16, 2015.
Mr. Brown failed to appear at any of the pre-hearings scheduled to deal with his application. Mr. Brown failed to remain in contact with his counsel. As a result, counsel sought to be removed from the record and Allstate asked that an arbitration hearing be set and that the matter be dealt with in Mr. Brown’s absence if necessary.
The issues in this hearing are:
- Should counsel for Mr. Brown be removed as counsel of record?
- Should Mr. Brown’s application for arbitration be dismissed?
- Should Mr. Brown pay Allstate its expenses?
Result:
- Counsel for Mr. Brown is removed as counsel of record.
- Mr. Brown’s application for arbitration is dismissed.
- Mr. Brown shall pay Allstate its expenses fixed at $2000.
EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS:
This matter was set down twice for pre-hearing discussion with Mr. Brown never appearing.
At the first pre-hearing on January 18, 2016, counsel for Mr. Brown advised that he had advised that he might be out of the country for as long as four months on a family matter. Mr. Brown had left phone numbers where he could be contacted yet counsel was unable to reach him. The pre-hearing was adjourned to March 16, 2016.
On March 16, 2016, neither counsel nor the Commission had heard from Mr. Brown. Again, counsel advised that they had been unable to reach Mr. Brown at the phone numbers he had provided to them, and there had been no response to any of the correspondence delivered to his last known address. Counsel of record advised that they had no instructions on which to proceed and that they would request an order removing them as counsel of record. Allstate submitted that the matter should be set down for hearing.
The matter was down for an arbitration hearing to proceed on June 17, 2016.
Counsel off record
By letter dated March 22, 2016, counsel for Mr. Brown delivered to the Commission a formal written request, copied to Mr. Brown, for an order removing them as counsel of record on the basis of a breakdown in communication. Counsel’s request complied with Rule 9 of the Dispute Resolution Practice Code and was delivered to Mr. Brown at his last known address.
In order to provide Mr. Brown an opportunity to respond to the motion, counsel’s motion to be removed from the record was also set to be heard on the date set down for arbitration, June 17, 2016.
On June 17, 2016, Mr. Brown did not appear and had not otherwise responded to the motion. Consequently, in the circumstances, I granted counsel’s request for an order removing them as counsel of record.
Dismissal of application for arbitration
This arbitration hearing date was set after two attempts to complete a pre-hearing. Mr. Brown did not appear for any of the pre-hearing dates and did not otherwise make contact with the Commission. He took no steps to pursue his application for arbitration and failed to appear on the date set for hearing or otherwise make known his intentions with respect to his application.
In these circumstances, I order that the application for arbitration is dismissed.
EXPENSES:
Given that the Allstate was required to appear three times to defend this application, and in light of its dismissal, I find it reasonable to award Allstate its reasonable expenses fixed in the amount of $2000.
September 8, 2016
Rosemary Muzzi Arbitrator
Date
Financial Services Commission des Commission services financiers of Ontario de l’Ontario
Neutral Citation: 2016 ONFSCDRS 237
FSCO A15-002699
BETWEEN:
ORVILLE BROWN
Applicant
and
ALLSTATE 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. Brown’s application for arbitration is dismissed.
- Mr. Brown shall pay Allstate its expenses fixed in the amount of $2000.
September 8, 2016
Rosemary Muzzi Arbitrator
Date
Footnotes
- The Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule — Effective September 1, 2010, Ontario Regulation 34/10, as amended.