An Oakville couple has been ordered by an Ontario Superior Court Justice Kendra Coats to pay more than $1 million in costs after a jury dismissed their action against their insurer.<\/p>\n
In DiBattista v. Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company et al.<\/a><\/em>, the plaintiffs\u2019 claim arose out of a fire at their home. The reasons for judgment (which deal with the award of costs) do not make the nature of the claim entirely clear, but it appears that the plaintiff insureds were dissatisfied with the way in which their home had been restored following the fire. (The reasons for judgment of Coats J. actually say that the claim was for \u201cpersonal injuries arising from the alleged incomplete or negligent restoration\u201d of the plaintiffs\u2019 home, which is a rather unusual basis for claim.)<\/p>\n The defendants were\u00a0the plaintiffs\u2019\u00a0homeowner\u2019s insurer, Wawanesa, and\u00a0some contractors who\u00a0had presumably been involved in the repair of the home.<\/p>\n The trial of this action\u00a0apparently took 70 days.<\/em>\u00a0The jury found no liability on the part of Wawanesa or the other defendants and assessed the insureds\u2019 damages at zero.<\/p>\n The defendants sought costs on a substantial indemnity basis because the claim alleged bad faith, malice and dishonesty on their parts. Punitive damages had also been claimed by the plaintiffs.<\/p>\n Justice Coats had no hesitation in awarding substantial indemnity costs, principally on the basis that \u201cunfounded allegations of a fraud or dishonesty or other improper conduct seriously prejudicial to the character or reputation of the party\u201d had been made.<\/p>\n Apart from an arithmetical error of $1,000, the defendants\u2019 costs were allowed in full. The award\u00a0totalled $1,054,967.76 (for the two sets of defendants, who had been separately represented).<\/p>\n The successful defendants had also sought to have OHIP held responsible for some of their costs. OHIP had initially pursued a small subrogated claim but had abandoned that claim prior to trial. Justice Coats was not prepared to find that OHIP had been \u201ca full partner in the litigation\u201d and awarded\u00a0costs\u00a0only against Mr. and Mrs. Battista, the plaintiff insureds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An Oakville couple has been ordered by an Ontario Superior Court Justice Kendra Coats to pay more than $1 million in costs after a jury dismissed their action against their insurer. In DiBattista v. Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company et al., … Continue reading