The Lawyers Weekly - June 25, 2010

New regs
will increase

Handyman sues after chopping off branch his ladder leaned on

claims costs

Cap
Continued From Page 9

An oddity in Personal Injury Law

old regime’s restrictive defin-
itions of minor injury. “We still
don’t really know how the (old)
cap is going to be interpreted.”
The government released a
consultant’s report that predicted
insurers will pay an additional $7
million to settle claims under the
new regulations, and would have
paid an extra $69 million if the
changes had been made retro-
active to 2003.

Mason, pointing to evidence
heard during the constitutional
challenge, claims insurance
companies made an additional
$250 million between 2003 and
2007 alone and could have
absorbed the cost of retroactive
changes. “There was a real busi-
ness case to be made that the
changes could have been made
retroactive without causing any
increase in insurance premiums
in Nova Scotia.”
The Insurance Bureau of Can-
ada (IBC) issued a statement say-
ing the new regulations will
increase claim costs, but it’s too
early to predict if premiums will
increase. “An effective auto insur-
ance system must maintain a
balance between benefits and
stable premiums,” said Bill
Adams, IBC’s vice president
Atlantic. “The government has
changed that balance to provide
more benefits.”
Mason also welcomed amend-
ments that relieve accident vic-
tims of the burden of proving
their injuries are serious. “That
can be a heavy burden…the gov-
ernment has eliminated that pro-
vision, so now it’s our view that
the burden would rest on the
insurance company or the
defendant to prove that an acci-
dent victim’s injury was minor,
not on the accident victim having
to disprove it.”
The Nova Scotia government
will also explore the possibility
of providing optional full-tort
coverage, which Mason says is
only available in Saskatchewan.
It would give drivers the option
of buying expanded coverage
and avoiding the minor-injury
cap completely, if they pay a
higher premium.

“It sounds good but it may not
benefit many people,” says
A handyman working at a British hotel sawed off
a tree branch while standing on a ladder — with the
ladder leaning against the branch being cut.

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