If a “driverless” vehicle with a person at the wheel injures or kills someone, who – or what – is at fault?This is no longer science fiction or a mind experiment. Forecasts project 4.5 million self-driving cars on USA roads by 2035, which could translate to 500 thousand such vehicles in Canada. The Victoria Transportation Policy Institute in BC predicts
The Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR) is a national association of provincial and territorial governments. They recently released two related reports: their Annual Statement on Market Conduct (ASMC) and their Cooperative Fair Treatment of Customers (FTC) Review. These lay out the standards expected of insurance companies in dealing with their customers and provide data on how many insurers are
Disability lawyers can expect continued demand in 2022 from various COVID-related issues. We have recently written articles about the denial of disability insurance claims related to “long-haul” COVID-19 symptoms. The “shadow” pandemic includes other lingering health issues that will affect short-term disability (STD) and long-term disability (LTD) insurance claims. According to the 2021 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey, more than half
The Insurance Bureau of Canada recently released their annual fact book. This includes a cross-Canada comparison of auto insurance systems, summarized here plus our update for Alberta. Quebec and Manitoba have government-run pure no-fault insurance regimes, with no right to sue for pain and suffering, nor for economic loss in excess of no-fault benefits. British Columbia’s new no-fault system
Insurance Business Canada recently released the results of a large nation-wide survey of insurance companies and the lawyers they retain. The good news for plaintiff lawyers is that half (47%) of defence lawyers expect more work in the coming year, so you can too. The other half anticipates the same workload as this year; none expect their workload to decrease.
A few years ago, we asked Ontario lawyers about the increasing difficulty of practising personal injury law, given the province’s changes to automobile insurance. Recent changes by the British Columbia and Alberta governments are creating similar problems for plaintiff personal injury lawyers in Western Canada. We interviewed Marc Spivak, a partner at Devry Smith Frank LLP in Toronto, for our
A growing number of people report serious long-lasting, debilitating effects from the COVID-19 virus weeks and months after infection. These people are known as “long-haulers”. Long-haulers are characterized as those who have been sick with COVID-19 symptoms for one month or more and continue to experience the impact of the virus in every aspect of their daily functioning. The number
Provincial governments across Canada are constantly looking for ways to reduce auto insurance rates. To do this, they have tried public and private insurance regimes, changed coverage and benefits, or instituted tribunals to streamline legal systems. British Columbia’s latest changes could tempt other provinces to significantly reduce injured plaintiffs’ access to justice. In 2020, BC’s NDP government introduced Bill 11,
For several years, personal injury lawyers representing plaintiffs have told us many reasons that cases take too long. Litigious insurance companies, requests for overly detailed medical reports, centralization of adjusters, armies of experts, and defence counsel delaying tactics have all been mentioned. In addition, the court systems in many provinces have suffered systemic problems for years. In British Columbia, a
A plaintiff has already suffered serious personal injury and endured the financial hardship that accompanied it, not to mention the stress of a daunting court case. Your client should not also have to absorb litigation loan costs, which are clearly the responsibility of the insurance company. Insurance companies use delaying tactics, not to accumulate more information about the file to
