Financial Services Commission des
Commission services financiers
of Ontario de l’Ontario
Neutral Citation: 2017 ONFSCDRS 71
FSCO A15-003184
BETWEEN:
SABER ASHRAM
Applicant
and
AVIVA CANADA INC.
Insurer
REASONS FOR DECISION
Before: Arbitrator Benjamin Drory
Heard: By teleconference call on March 1, 2017
Appearances: Mr. Saber Ashram did not participate
Ms. Amanda Faulkner participated for Aviva Canada Inc.
Issues:
The Applicant, Mr. Saber Ashram, was injured in a motor vehicle accident on October 29, 2013 and sought accident benefits from Aviva Canada Inc. (“Aviva”), payable under the Schedule.1 The parties were unable to resolve their disputes through mediation, and Mr. Ashram, 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. Ashram’s Application for Arbitration be dismissed?
Is Aviva entitled to its expenses of the proceeding?
Result:
Mr. Ashram’s Application for Arbitration is dismissed.
Aviva is entitled to its expenses respecting this matter in the amount of $750.00.
EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS:
Mr. Ashram’s former counsel was permitted off-the-record by the Pre-Hearing Arbitrator in January 2017. The Hearing in this matter had been scheduled for March 1-3, 2017, at the offices of ADR Chambers. Subsequent to Mr. Ashram’s former counsel being removed from the record, ADR Chambers granted Aviva’s request to convert the Hearing to proceed via teleconference. Mr. Ashram was notified of this change by registered mail. ADR Chambers was advised that Mr. Ashram owed Aviva over $12,000.00 in repayment of income replacement benefits, in accordance with a decision of the Licensing Appeal Tribunal. As such, Aviva anticipated that Mr. Ashram was unlikely to take further interest in the matter or proceed in the Hearing as scheduled.
I called Mr. Ashram’s last-known telephone number in FSCO’s database on two occasions— 10:00 a.m. (the listed start time for the Hearing) and again at 10:30 a.m. Mr. Ashram was not available to participate at either time.
I am satisfied that Mr. Ashram was given notice of all of the proceedings related to his Application for 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. Ashram bears the onus of proving entitlement to the claimed benefits. Since he did not participate at the Hearing and no evidence was presented to support his claims, this Application for Arbitration is dismissed.
EXPENSES:
Aviva requested $750.00 respecting its expenses in this matter. Mr. Ashram did not provide a response on point.
I find that Aviva is entitled to expenses in this matter, in the claimed amount. The amount sought is reasonable for a matter that proceeded in this way, and I accept Aviva’s submission at face value that the $750.00 amount represents only a small fraction of what it spent defending the matter.
March 13, 2017
Benjamin Drory
Arbitrator
Date
Financial Services Commission des
Commission services financiers
of Ontario de l’Ontario
Neutral Citation: 2017 ONFSCDRS 71
FSCO A15-003184
BETWEEN:
SABER ASHRAM
Applicant
and
AVIVA CANADA INC.
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:
Mr. Ashram’s Application for Arbitration is dismissed.
Aviva is entitled to its expenses respecting this matter in the amount of $750.00.
March 13, 2017
Benjamin Drory
Arbitrator
Date
Footnotes
- The Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule - Effective September 1, 2010, Ontario Regulation 34/10, as amended.