Siobhan McClelland

The defendant insurer, Aviva, brought a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the plaintiff's claim for unidentified motorist coverage.

Aviva argued that the plaintiff failed to exercise reasonable due diligence to identify the at-fault driver and did not comply with statutory notice requirements.

The court dismissed the motion, finding genuine issues requiring a trial regarding the plaintiff's capacity to gather information immediately after the collision due to head trauma and whether equitable relief from forfeiture should be granted for the notice breaches.

The plaintiffs brought a motion at the outset of a jury trial for leave to adduce expert evidence from three experts whose reports were served late.

The plaintiffs argued the delay was due to inadvertence and that the defendant would not be prejudiced.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that inadvertence did not constitute a reasonable explanation for the delay under the amended Rule 53.08.

The court also noted that granting leave would cause undue delay by necessitating an adjournment of the trial to allow the defendant to obtain responding reports.