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

Application for a declaration that pursuant to the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. 1.8 and Ontario’s Standard Automobile Policy (“SAP”) the insurer had no obligation to defend its insured against a claim after paying its policy limits to the plaintiff. The application was dismissed and the insurer was ordered to continue to bear the cost of defending the insured.

Jevco Insurance Co. v. Malaviya, [2013] O.J. No. 394, January 29, 2013, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, E.M. Morgan J.

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Insurer was not under a duty to defend an insured in an action where the insured, a teacher, was alleged to have committed assault and battery in respect to a student.

Dube v. BCAA Insurance Corp., [2012] B.C.J. No. 2751, December 24, 2012, British Columbia Supreme Court, S.F. Kelleher J.

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Unsuccessful application by the insured for an order that the insurer was in breach of its obligation to defend and indemnify the insured. The third party claim against the insured did not trigger coverage and nonetheless would have been excluded on the basis the claim occurred well before the inception of the policy.

Bathurst (City) v. Lloyd's Underwriters, [2012] N.B.J. No. 355, August 27, 2012, New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, R. Léger J.

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The Insurer was found to owe its insured a duty to defend in circumstances where the plaintiffs amended their claim from one alleging fraud to one alleging negligence.

Aitken v. Unifund Assurance Co. [2012] O.J. No. 4450, September 25, 2012, Ontario Court of Appeal, S.E. Lang, G.J. Epstein and A. Hoy JJ.A.

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An application by an insurance company for a declaration regarding coverage under a policy of insurance. The application was allowed in part.

Belair Direct v. Shoup, [2012] O.J. No. 3795, August 8, 2012, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, E.M. Morgan J.

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An appeal by an insurer from an order that it defend its insureds and reimburse them for defence costs. The appeal was dismissed.

Meridian Construction Inc. v. Royal & SunAlliance Insurance Co. of Canada, [2012] N.S.J. No. 450, August 23, 2012, Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, M.J. Hamilton, J.E. Fichaud and P. Bryson JJ.A.

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An insurer sought a declaration that it was not required to defend the grandparents, uncle and father of a child in a separate action brought by the child claiming damages for bodily injury. The insurer argued that the grandson was residing in the grandparents’ household and sought a declaration that coverage was thereby excluded. The application was dismissed.

Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Co. of Canada v. Araujo, [2012] B.C.J. No. 1677, August 9, 2012, British Columbia Supreme Court, B. Fisher J.

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A company contracted to provide winter maintenance on a property ("Collingwood") was successful in its appeal of a decision requiring it to assume the defence of the co-defendant landlord ("Cora") where the court found that the appropriate remedy for failing to name Cora as an additional insured on Collingwood's commercial general liability insurance policy was to require Collingwood to pay for Cora's defence of the action, save for costs incurred exclusively to defend claims that did not arise from Collingwood's performance or non-performance of the winter maintenance service contract.

Papapetrou v. 1054422 Ontario Ltd. [2012] O.J. No. 3373, July 23, 2012, Ontario Court of Appeal, J.I. Laskin, J.M. Simmons and E.A. Cronk JJ.A.

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Application by an insured for declaration that her homeowner policy insurer was obligated to provide her a defence to counterclaims made by defendants against her in a personal injury action commenced by her to recover for injuries suffered by her son. The court held that there was no duty to defend as the policy excluded coverage for liablity for bodily injury occurring to the insured, which by definition included the applicant's son.

Desormeaux v. Dominion of Canada General Insurance Co., [2012] O.J. No. 2433, May 30, 2012, Ontarior Superior Court of Justice, P.B. Annis J.

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An appeal by an insured from the dismissal of the third party claim against his insurance company and from a finding that his insurance company was not required to defend him. The appeal was allowed.

Durham District School Board v. Grodesky, [2012] O.J. No. 1829, April 27, 2012, Ontario Court of Appeal, R.J. Sharpe, R.A. Blair and R.G. Juriansz JJ.A.

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