Economical Mutual Insurance Company v. Caughy

[Indexed as: Economical Mutual Insurance Co. v. Caughy]

Ontario Reports

Court of Appeal for Ontario,

Hoy A.C.J.O., Lauwers and Hourigan JJ.A.

March 24, 2016

130 O.R. (3d) 508 | 2016 ONCA 226

Case Summary

Insurance — Automobile insurance — Statutory accident benefits ? "Accident" — Insured injured when he tripped over motorcycle which was parked on walkway between camping trailers — Temporary parking of motorcycle on walkway constituting ordinary or well-known use of vehicle and being dominant feature in incident — Insured involved in "accident" as defined in s. 3(1) of Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule — Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule — Effective September 1, 2010, O. Reg. 34/10, s. 3(1).

The insured was injured when he tripped over a motorcycle which was parked on a walkway between trailers at a campsite. The insurer denied the insured's application for statutory accident benefits on the basis that the incident did not meet the definition of "accident" in s. 3(1) of the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule -- Effective September 1, 2010. The application judge found that the insured was involved in an "accident" as defined in s. 3(1). The insurer appealed.

Held, the appeal should be dismissed.

The application judge did not err in finding that the temporary parking of the motorcycle on the walkway constituted an ordinary or well-known use of the vehicle and was the dominant feature in the incident.

Amos v. Insurance Corp. of British Columbia, 1995 CanLII 66 (SCC), [1995] 3 S.C.R. 405, [1995] S.C.J. No. 74, 127 D.L.R. (4th) 618, 186 N.R. 150, [1995] 9 W.W.R. 305, 63 B.C.A.C. 1, 10 B.C.L.R. (3d) 1, 31 C.C.L.I. (2d) 1, [1995] I.L.R. 1-3232, 13 M.V.R. (3d) 302, 57 A.C.W.S. (3d) 640; [page509] Citadel General Assurance Co. v. Vytlingam, [2007] 3 S.C.R. 373, [2007] S.C.J. No. 46, 2007 SCC 46, 286 D.L.R. (4th) 577, 368 N.R. 251, J.E. 2007-1976, 230 O.A.C. 364, 53 C.C.L.I. (4th) 1, [2007] I.L.R. I-4645, 52 M.V.R. (5th) 1, EYB 2007-124881, 160 A.C.W.S. (2d) 1058; Greenhalgh v. ING Halifax Insurance Co. (2004), 2004 CanLII 21045 (ON CA), 72 O.R. (3d) 338, [2004] O.J. No. 3485, 243 D.L.R. (4th) 635