Aggravated damages do not constitute a new cause of action.

The plaintiff insureds were successful on their application to amend their Statement of Claim to plead aggravated damages in connection with their insurer’s refusal to pay benefits, as the court held that this did not constitute a new cause of action.

Dimartino v. Gacek, [2010] O.J. No. 1453, April 12, 2010, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, C.J. Horkins J.

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Title insurance is void if there is a defect in the underlying insured title.

An application for a declaration that there was coverage under a policy of title insurance on the basis that there was a defect in title and that the title was unmarketable.  The application was dismissed.

764139 Ontario Inc. v. Stewart Title Guaranty Co., [2010] O.J. No. 1106, March 18, 2010, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, K.M. van Rensburg J.

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Celebrity Insurance Policies

This is not a substantive case, but I was provided a link from nursepractitionerschools.org that I wanted to pass along.  12 most insane celebrity insurance policies.

An insurer did not have to provide a defence for asbestos claims because a clear exclusion clause was present in the policy.

An application for a declaration that the Applicant’s Insurer had a duty to defend it with respect to claims for property damage arising from asbestos contamination, despite an exclusion in the policy.

1604945 Ontario Inc. v. Lloyd's Underwriters, [2010] O.J. No. 1010, March 8, 2010, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, P.J. Flynn J.

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In Saskatchewan damages arising from a motor vehicle accident are capped by the no fault legislation.

An application by the Plaintiff for determinations of questions of law arising from a claim to recover the difference between the amount that would have been awarded as damages at common law versus the amount he had received under the no fault scheme.

Acton v. Britannia (Rural Municipality, No. 502), March 9, 2010, Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, G.N. Allbright J.

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An insured may be able to recover damages from an intentinal act perpetrated by an unidentified motorist.

Appeal from a decision dismissing a summary trial application.   The issue considered on appeal was whether the unidentified motorist provision in the Insurance (Motor Vehicle) Act was applicable to a situation where the vehicle was being used to commit intentional acts.

Hannah v. John Doe, March 19, 2010, British Columbia Court of Appeal, M.A. Rowles, P.A. Kirkpatrick and K.E. Neilson JJ.A.

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