William Goldstein

The applicant, an Ontario resident, was injured in a motor vehicle accident in Michigan and sought to elect accident benefits under Michigan's Personal Injury Protection scheme rather than Ontario's Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS).

The respondent insurer denied the election because it was not a registered insurer under Michigan law.

The Tribunal found that the applicant did not meet the criteria to qualify as an insured in Michigan because the respondent had not filed a certification in compliance with Michigan law.

As the respondent had already paid the maximum medical and rehabilitation benefits available under the Ontario SABS, the application was dismissed.

The applicant was injured in a motor vehicle accident and claimed statutory accident benefits.

A dispute arose and the applicant applied for mediation.

The parties agreed to extend the mediation date beyond the 60-day statutory limit but failed to comply with the mandatory procedural steps under Rule 19.3 of the Dispute Resolution Practice Code.

The applicant filed for arbitration before the scheduled mediation date.

The arbitrator held that because the parties did not comply with the mandatory procedural steps to extend the mediation timeline, the agreement to extend was invalid.

Consequently, mediation was deemed to have failed at the expiry of the 60-day limit, which occurred before the arbitration application was filed.

The applicant was therefore entitled to commence the arbitration proceeding.

The applicant was injured in a motor vehicle accident and claimed non-earner benefits.

At the time of the accident, she had been receiving Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability benefits for approximately sixteen years.

The insurer sought to deduct the CPP disability benefits from the non-earner benefits.

The arbitrator held that the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule does not permit the deduction because the CPP benefits were not received 'as a result of the accident' under s. 12(4), nor were they 'temporary disability benefits' under s. 60, given their prolonged and indefinite nature.