Hamblin v. Standard Life Assurance Company of Canada, 2016 ONCA 854

An LTD insurer is entitled to reduce the amount of LTD payments under a group insurance plan by the amount of the non-earner benefit the insured person is receiving, so long as the accident benefits insurer is not deducting LTD payments from the amount of the NEB payable.

Released November 14, 2016 | Full Decision [CanLII]

Catherine Hamblin was injured in two separate motor vehicle accidents. She applied for and received LTD payments from Standard Life under a group insurance plan after the first accident.

By the time of her second accident, Ms. Hamblin was not working. She elected to receive a non-earner benefit. While her accident benefits insurer was entitled to deduct the LTD benefits from the non-earner benefits, it did not do so. Standard Life deducted the amount of Ms. Hamblin’s non-earner benefits from the LTD benefit payable. It relied on the terms of its group insurance plan, which entitled it to reduce monthly LTD payments by “any disability or retirement benefit… payable… under a provincial auto insurance law.”

The Ontario Court of Appeal agreed with Standard Life and the application judge that the NEB was both payable under provincial auto insurance law and was a disability benefit. The Court rejected the argument that NEB benefits ought not to be deductible under the “apples from apples” principle because it was not an income benefit. It contracted the matching principle in tort with deductions that arise by virtue of the terms of the policy of insurance.

In the result, the Court agreed that so long as the accident benefits insurer did not deduct the monthly LTD payment from the NEB payable, Standard Life was entitled to deduct the amount of the NEB from its LTD payments.

Read the Full Decision on CanLII
Written by

For over a decade, Rikin Morzaria has dedicated his practice to representing those who have suffered serious or catastrophic personal injuries and families who have lost a loved one in wrongful death cases. His areas of practice include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, cycling injuries, fatal accidents, medical malpractice, nursing home negligence, and disability insurance claims.

Rikin received his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) with Distinction from the Schulich School of Business at York University. He completed his law degree at the University of Toronto, where he also received the top prize in Trial Advocacy and the top prize in Public International Law.

Rikin has written and published more than twenty journal articles and chapters in leading textbooks in the field of civil litigation and personal injury law. He is regularly invited to give lectures to other lawyers and to health professionals about litigation and personal injury law.

Rikin believes passionately in the need for safe streets and commutes by bicycle to work every day. When not working, Rikin spends his time with his wife and two children.