British Columbia Insurance Blog : Canada Insurance Lawyer & Attorney : Michael Thomas of Harper Grey Law Firm : British Columbia, Vancouver

McLean v. Canadian Premier Life Insurance Co., [2012] B.C.J. No. 198, January 31, 2012, British Columbia Supreme Court, J.K. Bracken J.

The plaintiff applied unsuccessfully for a declaration that she was entitled to accidental death benefits under a policy of life insurance following the death of her husband.

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Slawter v. Insurance Corp. of British Columbia, [2011] B.C.J. No. 2595, September 2, 2011, British Columbia Provincial Court, D.A. St. Pierre Prov. Ct.J.

A dispute over the standard of proof to be applied in civil cases where an allegation of fraud is made. The Court found that the only standard of proof to be applied is the balance of probabilities.

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Paul v. CUMIS Life Insurance Co., [2012] B.C.J. No. 253, January 20, 2012, British Columbia Court of Appeal, M.E. Saunders, P.D. Lowry and S.D. Frankel JJ.A.

Appeal by an insurer from a trial judgment finding it liable under a mortgage life insurance policy. The appeal was allowed.

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Decision by insurer to deny payment on a life insurance policy following the death of the insured in a plane crash based on an exclusion clause requiring the insured to have the "required licence" to fly upheld because the insured's medical certificate had expired one year before the accident.

Gudzinski Estate v. Allianz Global Risks US Insurance Co. Limited, [2012] A.J. No. 5, January 9, 2012, Alberta Court of Appeal, J.E.L. Côté, J. Watson and FF. Slatter JJ.A

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Application for a declaration of a duty to defend dismissed because there was no occurrence under the policy of insurance and there was no possibility of a duty to indemnify.

Co-operators General Insurance Co. v. Assn. of New Brunswick Cemeteries, [2012] N.B.J. No. 4, January 10, 2012, New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, J.L. Clendening J.

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The insured’s motion for summary judgment against his broker was dismissed. The insured alleged his broker failed to properly offer optional income replacement benefit coverage as part of his automobile insurance policy. The Court found that although the broker had breached the applicable standard of care, the insured had not shown on a balance of probabilities that he would have purchased the income replacement benefit coverage if it had been properly offered.

Zefferino v. Meloche Monnex Insurance Co., [2012] O.J. No. 57, January 9, 2012, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, R.B. Reid J.

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Successful application by the plaintiffs to add the insurer as a defendant. At issue was whether section 259.1 of the Insurance Act, which contains a one year limitation period, applied to the plaintiffs’ claim. The Court found that section 259.1 did not apply to "loss of use" and, therefore, the plaintiffs’ application was granted.

McMillan v. Poniatowski, [2011] O.J. No. 6102, December 22, 2011, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, N.B. Pickell Deputy J.

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An insured brought an action against his insurance broker for failing to advise him about the vacancy exclusion in his policy.  The action was allowed and the insured was awarded damages.

Cheecham v. Saskatchewan Government Insurance [2011] S.J. No. 500, August 2, 2011, Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench, B. Scherman J.

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