Court of Appeal for Ontario

Citation: Reeve v. Co-operators Insurance Company, 2013 ONCA 752

Date: 20131216

Docket: C57425

Juriansz, Hourigan and Benotto JJ.A.

Between

Carol Reeve

Plaintiff (Appellant)

and

Co-operators Insurance Company and Unique Chrysler

Defendant (Respondent)

Counsel:

Jane Poproski, for the appellant

Donna M. Kraft, for the respondent

Heard and endorsed orally: December 9, 2013

On appeal from the order of Justice Gerald E. Taylor of the Superior Court of Justice, dated March 31, 2013.

Endorsement

[1] Carol Reeve appeals the decision of Justice Taylor granting summary judgment and denying her claim as against Co-operators Insurance Company for disability benefits.

[2] The appellant submits that the motion judge erred in failing to appreciate the “duty to inform” in insurance law. Specifically, she argues that Co-operators had a duty to inform her directly regarding a potential claim for benefits and that until such time as they have done so, the limitation period for a claim for such benefits does not begin to run.

[3] We dismiss the appeal for the following reasons.

[4] There is no common law duty on a group disability insurer to inform an insured of each individual potential claim for benefits in these circumstances. The decision in Smith v. Co-operators Life General Insurance Co., 2002 SCC 30, [2002] 2 S.C.R. 129 relied upon by the appellant in support of this proposition was made in the context of the specific language contained in s. 71 of the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule. In the present case, the policy content and notification obligations of a disability insurer are set forth in ss. 296 and 298 of Part VII of the Insurance Act. The unchallenged evidence of the benefits’ administrator was that there was compliance with those provisions and the appellant does not dispute that the insurer is, in fact, in compliance.

[5] The appeal is dismissed.

[6] Costs are payable by the appellant to Co-operators and are fixed at $7,500 all inclusive.

“Juriansz J.A.”

“Hourigan J.A.”

“M.L. Benotto J.A.”