Judge sees his recommendations cherry-picked re auto insurance

Justice Cunningham is himself now wary of his February 2014 recommendation that the province appoint a “public sector administrative tribunal” for SABS disputes and get rid of the court option for MVA victims.
He now acknowledges that few of the LAT adjudicators actually have experience resolving AB disputes, saying “Clearly many of my recommendations were not adopted.” “There was a lot of cherry picking that went on here.” WHY IS HE SURPRISED? As an accident victim I certainly am not. And herein lies the problem.

Source/more: http://deniedbenefitclaims.com/blog.html

LAT hearings held in writing 'fundamental denial of justice'

“These people are not being given the opportunity to come before the tribunal and have their credibility assessed, have their doctors testify and have their lawyers cross-examine the insurance company’s doctors,” Singer tells AdvocateDaily.com. “Instead, it’s all done in writing.

Source/more:

http://www.advocatedaily.com/darryl-singer-lat-hearings-held-in-writing-fundamental-denial-of-justice.html

Let’s start with quality LATs, says reader

by Donald Horne | 31 Jan 2015

Everyone wants a faster, more accountable system when it comes to insurance claims – but it needs to start with knowledgeable LATs, says one reader.

“Most people would be pleased to see a faster system. But what about cleaning up the dirty insurance system we have first and making sure that the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) is capable to hear what are complicated cases,” Griswald G told Insurance Business. “Right now they hear complaints about home builders and taxi licenses and the public has little confidence that they are doing even that fairly. So sending auto accident victims through that system appears to be an attempt to get rid of the thousands of people waiting to hold their insurer accountable.”

The reader was commenting on the story, ‘Personal injury lawyer launches challenge against Bill 15,’ about the personal injury lawyer Joseph Campisi launching a constitutional challenge in the Ontario Superior Courts, seeking a declaration that parts of the legislation that were recently passed by the Liberal Government are “discriminatory and unconstitutional” and should be inoperative.

“I am concerned that the recent proclaimed legislation will deny this right to individuals who have been severely disabled,” said Campisi. “Historically, the deck has been stacked against automobile victims. The recent amendments to the legislation have turned a bad situation into a worse one for these vulnerable individuals.”

But Griswald G sees the true issue being the ability of LATs to deliver for those seeking compensation.

“Broken plumbing or broken back, the LAT is your answer to the 50 per cent of people who can't get their insurance company to pay what they promised,” he wrote. “Looks like an even rougher ride ahead for MVA victims. Good luck to Campisi; and let's hope the rest of the legal community steps up and backs this plan up.”

Source: http://www.insurancebusiness.ca/news/lets-start-with-quality-lats-says-reader-187621.aspx