The association cited "disturbing trends" drawn from an inHEALTH analysis
The Ontario Trial Lawyers Association is pushing for an urgent review of the Licence Appeal Tribunal in light of findings from a recent inHEALTH statistical analysis.
The association cited what it described as “several disturbing trends” at the tribunal, with the most significant one being the outcomes obtained by self-represented claimants disputing injury claims. Of almost 4,500 decisions made by the LAT in relation to disputes between injured accident victims and insurance companies since the tribunal’s inception, just 217 involved self-represented individuals.
In these 217 cases, LAT adjudicators often sided with the insurance companies, with self-represented individuals getting only 33 favorable rulings. OTLA President Sandev Purewal said that this trend was “alarming” for “a system intended to support self-representation.”
“When the LAT was established eight years ago, the aim was to create a more efficient and affordable system for injured individuals to have their disputes heard, reducing frustration, uncertainty and costs. Unfortunately, the LAT has fallen drastically short of achieving any of these goals,” Purewal said. “The LAT as a dispute resolution system has failed to help injured people in their efforts to get the treatment and justice they need following an accident.”
OTLA noted that the success rate for insured applicants bringing their disputes to LAT has fallen over the years, with just 10% getting a win in 2023 compared to 2017’s 33%.
“Our members have voiced concerns that the LAT's process is overly rigid, is fraught with procedural unfairness, and fails to accommodate requests, even when both parties agree. This also raises important questions about the qualifications and training of LAT adjudicators,” Purewal said. “The LAT is an arm of our justice system. Injured Ontario citizens should feel confident that they are getting a fair hearing and that justice is being done. Unfortunately, with the recent declining trends in success rates for applicants and the overwhelming success of insurers is raising significant questions for our membership.”
The inHEALTH analysis was commissioned after it came out that government adjudicator Thérèse Reilly had joined Aviva Insurance in June 2022 while still issuing decisions as a part of LAT. Reilly ruled in favor of insurance companies – including Aviva – in more than 10 cases until she departed LAT in November 2022. The inHEALTH report took into account 4,489 decisions made in relation to substantive matters stored and indexed in inHEALTH’s LAT compendium, as well as 751 reconsiderations and 112 judicial appeals/reviews.
