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Court of Appeal affirms
supremacy of Licence Appeal
Tribunal
A claim an insurer breached its good faith duty was dismissed recently, the court
finding s. 280 of the Insurance Act delegates the action to the LAT system
THE ONTARIO Court of Appeal confirmed
the exclusive jurisdiction of the Licence Appeal
Tribunal for claims about statutory accident
benefits, tossing an appeal from an injured
person pursuing her insurer for breaching duty
of good faith.
Stegenga v. Economical Mutual Insurance
Company is a significant milestone in the move
of accident benefit claims from the courts to
the LAT system, says Kevin Adams, a partner
at Rogers Partners LLP. "This was an attempt
by the personal injury plaintiff 's lawyers to try
to preserve that bad faith cause of action and
pursue it in court," he says. "This just firmly
shuts the door on the potential to recover for
bad faith in a standalone action."
In 2011, Morgan Stegenga was seriously
injured in a car accident at 15 years old. The next
year, her mother applied for statutory accident
benefits. Until 2015, their insurer, Economical
Mutual Insurance Company, neglected to
