It's no joke—April Fools' (April 1, 2016) marks the day when accident benefit arbitration applications will begin to be received by the Licence Appeals Tribunal ("the LAT") instead of by FSCO.
This significant change in how accident benefit disputes will be handled has been in the works for quite some time. However, as with most change, many in the insurance industry seem to be looking at this new process with hesitation and trepidation, possibly because it is unfamiliar in comparison to the FSCO dispute resolution system which many have worked with for their entire careers.
But fear not! The LAT's process, while new and unfamiliar, is in fact quite similar to that of the dispute resolution process at FSCO. The goal of the LAT's auto insurance dispute resolution system (which the LAT has termed "AIDRS") is to make the arbitration process more streamlined which, by very definition, should make it more user-friendly. For starters, there will be no more mandatory mediations in advance of arbitration (as previously required by section 280 of the Insurance Act). Instead, an applicant will be able to apply for arbitration immediately upon his or her benefit being denied or terminated. The arbitration process will then proceed as follows:
From the time the Application for Arbitration is filed, the LAT's goal is to have hearings completed withing the following time frame:
These are ambitious goals given the number of applications
expected. To avoid backlogs, the LAT has promised to remain
flexible with respect to resourcing and staffing (thereby
suggesting that it is entirely possible that ADR Chambers could
continue to be used for overflow claims). The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances. |
We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.