Meeting: Wednesday September 29, 2004, 10:00 a.m. Tribunal Room - Room 20, 14th floor

1. SPECIAL AGENDA ITEM: 10:00-11:00am
DRS Excellence Review Project Michael Stanleigh
- attached memo from Cheryl Cottle

Dispute Resolution Group Companies Forum Minutes of Meeting September 29, 2004

Attendees:

Insurer Representative FSCO – DRS

Barbara Dudzinski
Asfaw Seife
David Draper
Judy Anderson
Margaret Orlander

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 11 a.m. on September 29, 2004. The time between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. was spent with insurer representatives providing input to Michael Stanleigh with respect to the DRS Excellence Review Project. There were no FSCO representatives present during that hour.

Iain Convery approved the minutes of the April 21, 2004 meeting. Ron Bouwmeister seconded it.

There were no matters arising from the minutes.

Auto Insurance Reform Update
(Margaret Orlander)

Ms. Orlander advised us that the DAC system would be replaced in some way. The consultation paper will be released shortly. It is not known what direction the customized automobile policy will take. There has been a lot of feedback received from various interest groups with a wide range of responses.

Mediation, Arbitration and Appeals Statistics
(Barbara Dudzinski, Judy Anderson & Asfaw Seife)

The insurer representatives requested that the statistical portion of the agenda be reduced to a minimum, with only highlights from the statistics to be presented.
The mediation intake was noted to be leveling off.

Arbitrations were increasing in number, the pending of outstanding decisions was increasing, the number of hearings was increasing and decisions issued in 85 days was increasing.

Appeals showed no significant change. The pending was noted to be decreasing.

The insurer representatives requested that statistics be shown for pre-October 1, 2003 dates of loss and post-October 1, 2003 dates of loss. The FSCO representatives indicated that this would be shown on future statistical reports.

DRS Operational Changes – Update
(Barbara Dudzinski)

A letter from Bryan P. Davies, Chief Executive Officer and Superintendent of Financial Services dated August 18, 2004, referred to organizational changes at FSCO. In the DRG Mediation unit, there are now three team leaders (previously there were two). There are three new arbitrators.

E filing is scheduled to start in spring, 2005. Cassandra Phillips noted that there was no space for filling in the date of denial on the mediation applications. FSCO responded that this was intentional.

FSCO has stated that they are going to be confirming/modifying the transaction-based structure of $500 per mediation charge to insurers. We discussed this and raised the issue that this kind of input should come from the CEO's of insurance companies and not from DRG Companies Forum insurer representatives. We decided to send any input to Ms. Deirdre Martin at the IBC and she could co-ordinate sending any of our information through to FSCO.

Other Business – DRS Case Directory
(Barbara Dudzinski)

FSCO stated that some users find it useful. FSCO stated that multiple insurance companies owned by one insurance company still have to search under each individual company.

Next Meetings

• Wednesday, January 12, 2005 at 10:00 a.m. at FSCO.
• Wednesday, April 6, 2005 at 10:00 a.m. at FSCO.

Minutes submitted by Cassandra Phillips, AXA Insurance (Canada).

MEMORANDUM

Date: September 20, 2004
To: COUNSEL FORUM
And to: COMPANIES FORUM
From: Cheryl Cottle
Project Lead
DR Working Group - DR Excellence
Subject: Agenda item – Meeting with Consultant (DR Excellence)

The Superintendent of Financial Services is gathering comments from the Dispute Resolution Services Branch staff regarding opportunities for improved service delivery.

The purpose of this exercise is to ensure that the work environment, structure and delivery systems of the Dispute Resolution Services Branch continue to support the effective and efficient delivery of excellent dispute resolution services. The Superintendent is not looking to change the basic model, which is built around services provided by staff directly employed at FSCO, operating under the current legislative structure. We are hopeful that the information that is gathered will enable the Superintendent to address opportunities for change with the view of improving the delivery of services over the near to mid-term.

A consultant (Business Improvement Architects) has been engaged to support this process. As both the Companies Forum and Counsel Forum are meeting this month, we have asked the consultant to meet with you during your respective meetings. The consultant will be seeking your input based on the following four questions:

1. What key elements of the current system do you feel are functioning well and would not like to see changed?
   
   
2. The Dispute Resolution Practice Code "creates rules for timely, cost-effective and fair dispute resolution services."
   
   Rule 1.1 states, "these Rules will be broadly interpreted to produce the most just, quickest and least expensive resolution of the dispute."
   
   With these principles in mind, is there anything FSCO/DRS could do to improve its provision of dispute resolution services?
   
   
3. Are there any interactions between the DRS process and the courts that you would recommend be changed?
   
   
4. If you could change one thing about the services provided by DRS, what would it be?
   
   The consultant attending Counsel Forum is Susan Lee and the consultant attending Companies Forum is Michael Stanleigh.
   
   Thank you for your corporation. We look forward to hearing back from the consultant on your responses to these questions.

DR Working Group
DR Excellence