In this modern era, traveling to foreign and exotic places is commonplace, especially for Canadians who love to escape to warmer weather during the winter. Many Canadians regularly travel to islands in the Caribbean, to the U.S., Europe, and Mexico. While at these destinations, you will no doubt travel in some form of a motor vehicle, but what happens if you get in an accident or injured?
A recent Ontario court decision is timely in light of the upcoming changes in medical and rehabilitation benefits. In Medcentra Inc. v. Economical Mutual Insurance Company (2010), 98 O.R. (3d) 624 (S.C.J.) Medcentra had provided a series of MRI’s to people injured in automobile accidents who were insured under auto policies issued by Economical. Economical had in the past accepted invoices directly from Medcentra and paid those invoices. Economical refused to pay the invoices at issue in the case.
While some of the amendments are positive, we are concerned that these reforms do not reflect the reality that very few people in Ontario actually purchase optional increased accident benefits coverage. In effect, this will likely result in overall reduced insurance funding for persons injured in motor vehicle accidents. Whether there will be a corresponding reduction in insurance premiums has yet to be seen.
The vast majority of people have never read their auto insurance policy. They may be surprised to learn that there are several “Statutory Conditions” in the policy. While there are […]