Ottawa Accident Lawyers - The Ontario Court of Appeal has sent a loud and clear messages to insurers

The Ontario Court of Appeal has sent a loud and clear messages to insurers and their adjusters on how to act reasonably in cases of injured persons seeking benefits. If an insurer denies benefits despite clear medical evidence of disability/injury, the Court will award damages to the disabled person above and beyond benefits.

This decision clarifies, in part, how minor injury claims will be handled. In the court judgment of McQueen v. Echelon General Insurance Co., the Ontario Court of Appeal refused to overturn an award of $25,000 for mental distress caused by the denial of benefits.


The case involved a plaintiff who had been in a motor vehicle accident in which she sustained injuries. Prior to the accident, she was already suffering from medical conditions such as bipolar disorder and back pain.


After the incident, the defendant insurer refused to pay for some of the benefits despite the medical evidence supporting an entitlement to benefits. The plaintiff sued seeking benefits and other damages including damages for bad faith and mental distress. She also sought aggravated damages and punitive damages.


The trial judge found that the mental distress warranted compensation. The Ontario Court of Appeal agreed and in its decision stated: “People purchase motor vehicle liability policies to protect themselves from financial and emotional stress and insecurity.

An object of such contracts is to secure a psychological benefit that brought the prospect of mental distress upon breach within the reasonable contemplation of the parties at the time the contract was made.

As an insured person entitled to call on the policy, Ms. McQueen was entitled to that peace of mind and to damages when she suffered mental distress on breach.”


If an insurance adjuster makes an arbitrary or unfair decision which is not supported by the medical evidence, damages can flow from that conduct in addition to the payment of benefits.


If you have an insurance claim regardless of how the claim arose, be it from a car accident, slip and fall, trip and fall, defective product or disability claim because of health or medical condition, please call us for a Free consultation at 613-315-4878. Quinn Thiele Mineault Grodzki LLP, Ottawa Injury Lawyers - Ottawa Accident Lawyers - Downtown Ottawa Lawyers.