Counsel Forum Minutes of Meeting - November 28, 2003

Approval of Minutes

• The minutes of the meeting held May 30, 2003 were approved.

Automobile Insurance Reform Update

• Margaret Orlander addressed the Forum on behalf of FSCO and provided a brief updated with respect to some of the initiatives being taken by the government.
  
  
• Last week the government introduced automobile insurance rate freeze legislation.
  
  
• All automobile insurers are required to re-file their documentation with respect to rates and risk classification.
  
  
• The government expects that there will be approximately a 10% decline in premiums for automobile insurance.
  
  
• The government continues to study the idea of creating various "options" on their automobile insurance (for example, the option to decline income replacement benefit coverage) that would further reduce rates to drivers depending upon what options they chose.
  
  
• Mike Colle is the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Finance and he has been given the responsibility with respect to automobile insurance. He has been meeting with various groups of stakeholders.

Mediation

• Over the last three months incoming applications for mediation have levelled off.
  
  
• The number of pending applications has dropped somewhat.
  
  
• The percentage of applicants for mediation represented by law firms has gone up significantly.
  
  
• The number of mediations held face to face is approximately 7% of the total. The mediators tried to achieve a consensus between the parties as to whether or not the mediation would be better off being held face to face or by telephone conference. Ultimately it is up to the mediator to decide the best forum to conduct the mediation.
  

Arbitration

• FSCO presently receives approximately 140 to 160 new arbitration applications each month, and this number has held fairly steady for the past several years. On a quarterly basis FSCO receives approximately 400-500 arbitration applications.
  
  
• With respect to the length of time following a hearing for the decision to be rendered, on the average over the last 4 quarters, approximately 80% of all arbitration decisions were issued within the guideline of 85 days from the end of the hearing.

Appeals and Judicial Review

• Arbitrator Stuart McMahon left FSCO in late July, 2003. Arbitrator David Evans has been appointed to the appeals unit for a 12-month term.
  
  
• The average length of time for an appeal decision is 88 days from the appeal's completion.
  
  
• The number of appeals launched each year averages 50-55.

Operational Update

• The government is contemplating a change to the assessment regulation dealing with how insurers are charged back for the mediation and arbitration costs. At present, insurers are assessed a $500 fee for the issuance of each mediation report and a $3,000 fee for each registered arbitration application.
  
  The contemplated regulation will require insurers to pay for Dispute Resolution Services costs based on their share of the insurance market in Ontario rather than on a per transaction basis.
  
  
• Mediation and Arbitration applications are now available on-line. These are fillable forms and can be printed out after they are completed on-line. These applications apply to Bill 59 only. Once filled out on-line, applications must be forwarded to FSCO in hard copy for processing.
  
  
• FSCO is continuing the work to develop a system to allow these completed mediation and arbitration applications to be e-filed directly to FSCO.
  
  
• Projected date for e-filing implementation is September, 2004.
  

Outreach Program

• There is an outreach committee at FSCO composed of Arbitrators and Mediators.
  
  
• A program is being discussed for Hamilton, Ontario in February, 2004, and discussions are also under way for a program to be held in Kingston, Ontario.
  
  
• FSCO continues to look at the possibility of holding face-to-face Arbitration pre-hearing in cities outside of Toronto. At present the planned focus is on having this availability in London, Ontario, however it is still being looked at and no final decisions have been made.

Amendments to the Dispute Resolution Practice Code

• It was pointed out to the Forum that some amendments were made to the Dispute Resolution Practice Code effective October 1, 2003. Most of these were housekeeping amendments made to ensure that the Practice Code conforms to changes made by the new legislation.
  
  
• New versions of the Practice Code are available on the FSCO web site.
  

Next Meeting

• The next meeting of counsel forum will take place on Friday, January 30, 2004.