Is Commercial Host Liability Expanding?
Bars and restaurants or commercial hosts who serve alcohol to customers owe a duty of care not only to customers but to third parties that ... Continued
Court of Appeal Finds That “Direct Physical Loss of or Damage” to Insured Property Requires Actual Harm to Property; Physical Alteration Alone Does Not Suffice
In Prosperity Electric v. Aviva Insurance Company of Canada, 2021 BCCA 237, Prosperity Electric (“Prosperity”) appealed a trial decision where its indemnity claim against its ... Continued
The Sky’s the Limit: Inconsistent Policy Drafting Results in Unlimited Coverage
In Surespan Structures Ltd. v. Lloyds Underwriters, 2021 BCCA 65 (“Surespan”), the Court of Appeal held that there was no limit to a particular area ... Continued
Civil Resolution Tribunal Jurisdiction Declared Unconstitutional
On March 2, 2021, the Supreme Court declared the legislation authorizing the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) jurisdiction over certain collision claims unconstitutional. In April 2019, ... Continued
Complementary Policies: Can One Insurer Compel the Defence of Another Insurer Based on (Hypothetical) Unjust Enrichment?
In Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada v. Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company, 2020 ABQB 720, Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada ... Continued
Extra Extra – 6% Cap on Disbursements
Last year, the BC government amended the Evidence Act to limit the number of experts and expert reports related to damages in motor vehicle personal ... Continued
Bad Faith Claims Against Insurers – Recent Cases of Note
Bad faith in the insurance context occurs when an insurer acts contrary to its duty of good faith. The perception of what exactly is deemed ... Continued
Non-Settling Parties Remain on the Hook: Clarification of BC Ferry Agreements
Recently, in The Owners of Strata Plan KAS3204 v. Navigator Development Corporation, 2020 BCSC 1954 [Navigator], the B.C. Supreme Court clarified the effect of a ... Continued
Misrepresentations, Omissions and other Half Truths
It is a deemed condition of every insurance contract that if a person applying for insurance misrepresents or fraudulently omits to communicate any circumstance that ... Continued
Keeping on the Straight and Narrow: Scope of Faulty Workmanship Exclusions in All-Risk Policies
The Alberta Court of Appeal has affirmed and extended the seminal Supreme Court of Canada decision in Ledcor v. Northbridge[1] regarding faulty workmanship exclusion clauses ... Continued
Timely Disclosure of (Surreptitiously Recorded) Documents
The rules of disclosure are fundamental to the adversarial system. Rule 7-1(21) of the Supreme Court Civil Rules says that a party who fails to ... Continued
Consideration of “Physical Damage” After MDS: Prosperity Electric v. Aviva
Earlier this year we commented on the Ontario Superior Court decision in MDS Inc. v. Factory Mutual Insurance Company (FM Global), 2020 ONSC 1924, where ... Continued