Attendees:
Insurer Representatives FSCO - DRB
Cassandra Phillips AXA Barbara Dudzinski FSCO
Iain Convery Allianz Shonna Neil FSCO
Scott MacDonald Co-operators Margaret Orlander FSCO
Adam Fox Belair (Chair)
Deirdre Martin IBC
Margaret Morrison Aviva
Brenda Fung Aviva
Mike Dela Haye Wawanesa
Martine Sliva ING
Mavis Haws Dominion
The Dispute Resolution Group – Companies Forum includes representatives from auto insurance companies dealing with disputes before the Commission involving motor vehicle accident claims and Statutory Accident Benefits. It consults with the Dispute Resolution Group of Financial Services Commission of Ontario on issues relating to the dispute resolution system.
Opening
- The meeting was called to order at 10.00 a.m. on June 18, 2003
Review and Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting
- Minutes of April 17 were approved with a note that CGU is now Aviva.
- There were no other matters arising from the minutes
Automobile Insurance Reform Update (Margaret Orlander)
- Drafting of the regulations is complete
- There was a small meeting of stakeholders in May 2003 to review the Regs and provide comment on Drafting Only but not policy changes
- Everyone is now awaiting approval of the regulations which will be done by cabinet
- The Superintendent will issue Bulletins outlining the changes
- The Implementation Date remains unknown but October 1 seems the most probable but it could still be earlier
- Mediation/Arbitration Fees will be addressed by the Regulation changes and the $500 Mediation fee will likely be gone
- Fees will be assessed on a new formula that remains unknown but may comprise market share and usage components and will be applied for the April 2003 – March 2004 fiscal year
Mediation (Shonna Neil)
- The incoming and pending has continued to increase for each of the last four quarters
- The Pending is now at 4907 up 10% from the end of March 03
- This may reflect efforts to resolve disputes prior to the implementation of Bill 198
- A recent mediator competition has regularized the current 36 mediator complement
- Shonna will provide an updated contact list for mediators
Abitration / Appeals (Barbara Dudzinski)
- The activity is relatively stable
- Based on the increased Mediation activity, there will likely be a following increase in Arbitrations with some lag time.
- Two Arbitrators have left and those positions have been replaced for a complement of 17 which is one down from the normal 18 Arbitrators
DRS Operational Update
- Combining of Mediation Applications – The numbers have increased marginally but there are not a large pool of mediations that fit the criteria.
- Smart Form / E-Filing – The plan is now to launch both of these tools concurrently late in 2003. The Application for Mediation will be the first form converted to the e-file format.
- Outreach Program - Education events are being planned for the Fall.
Companies Forum – Terms of Reference
- Copies of the Terms of Reference were provided and Adam asked that members consider the goals for the next meeting.
- Barbara will provide Adam a list of ADR Co-ordinators for follow up.
Other Business
- Mediation Reponse Form – FSCO has started collecting data on the use of the form. There have not been any reports created yet but feedback will be provided in the future. We discussed the value and if/when insurers are completing the form. One suggestion was that it was most valuable in outlining the position of the insurer for unrepresented insured.
- Settlement Days – Barbara and Shonna inquired if there would be a benefit in FSCO arranging Settlement Days which would help with the backlog in mediations. IBC also has settlement days and Deirdre will follow up in that regard. One challenge may be making the arrangements with the short turnaround time of FSCO mediations.
Next meeting are set for: October 2, 2003 at FSCO
October 28, 2003 at FSCO
Minutes submitted by: Scott MacDonald, The Co-operators
Financial Services Commission of Ontario