Meeting- Thursday, December 13, 2001, 10:00 a.m. FSCO 14th Floor - Tribunal Boardroom (Room 20)

AGENDA

1. Review of Minutes - September 26, 2001
2. Statistics
3. Cases for Discussion
4. Information contained in Arbitration Paperwork
5. Members Update
6. Membership
7. Review of the "Guideline for Identifying the Applicability of the Mediation Assessment Fee
8. Future Meetings

Minutes of Meeting December 13, 2001

Minutes completed by Scott MacDonald

Members:
Cassandra Phillips AXA
Scott MacDonald The Co-operators
Tiba DiMichele The Co-operators
Micheal Rubenstein Kingsway-Jevco
Adam Fox Belair
Margaret Morrison CGU
Martine Sliva ING-Halifax
Mary Wright Royal & SunAlliance

Attendees:
David Braund FSCO - DRG
Shonna Neil FSCO - DRG
Roberto Pegoraro FSCO

The Dispute Resolution Group - Companies Forum - includes
representatives from auto insurance companies dealing with
disputes before the Commission involving motor vehicle accident claims and statutory accident benefits. It consults with the Dispute Resolution Group of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario on issues relating to the dispute resolution system.

1. Review of Minutes - September 26, 2001
   
   The minutes were reviewed and approved.
   
   
2. Statistics
   
   Mediation activity is on target for a year-end (March 31, 2002) total of approximately 12,000. The outcomes are consistent with prior years, showing approximately 50% success rate. Note that the Partial Settlements are only counted when there are substantive issues resolved.
   Arbitrations are projected to be higher than the last couple by year-end (approx. 1600). The average days to decision are slipping down recently. The appeals unit is working on getting some old decisions released.
   
   
3. Cases for Discussion
   
   There was a brief discussion of the following cases.
   Persofsky & Liberty - The IBC and OTLA (Ontario Trial Lawyers Association) have been granted intervenor status in this Appeal dealing with institutional bias.
   Smith & Citadel - This case deals with assessment fees and service providers using the dispute resolution forum for collection of accounts. The Mediation Unit Project dealing with service provider accounts will continue until FSCO's year-end. Andy Walker the mediator involved in the project. The project's efficiency will be reviewed in conjunction with a survey of the users at year-end. In the interim, feedback can be provided to
   Shonna Neil.
   
   Saliba & Allstate & Progressive - There was a discussion about obiter comments in this and other cases.
   
   
4. Information contained in Arbitration Paperwork
   
   For ease of tracking & locating files, the group requested that the Claim Number and Date of Loss be carried forward with the other information on the RE: line of all Arbitration correspondence from FSCO.
   
   
5. Members Update
   
   A contact list for current members was provided to the group. It will be updated for the next meeting.
   
   
6. Membership
   
   The group is encouraged to invite other insurers to the group to ensure there is a broad spectrum of Ontario auto insurers involved.
   
   
7. Review of the "Guideline for Identifying the Applicability of the Mediation Assessment Fee.
   
   The Companies Group provided a Draft Copy of Comments for Discussion Purposes. Parties are to review for discussion at the next meeting.
   
   8. Future Meetings
   
   Thursday, March 21, 2002 10:00 am - Cancelled
   Thursday, June 13, 2002 10:00 am