Insurance Issues

• Author: Roger McConchie; David Potts
• Profession: Member of the Bars of British Columbia and Alberta/Member of the Bar of Ontario
• Pages: 927-939

C

H A P T E R T H 1 R T

Y

-

F

O

V R :

Insurance

Issues

A.

OVERVIEW

Coverage

for

liability

for

defamation

is

often

provided under commercial

and

homeowners insurance policies.

A

person

who is

served with legal

process

or who is

notified

of a

potential

defamation

claim should immedi-

ately

investigate whether insurance coverage

is

available, identify each

potentially relevant policy

of

insurance,

and

give notice

of

claim

to the

insurer

as

required

by

each policy.

A

libelled

plaintiff

should also consider whether

he or she is

entitled

to

indemnity under

a

policy they have purchased

from

their

own

insurer

in

respect

of

damages

inflicted

by the

tortfeasor.

B.

INSURANCE POLICY

CONTENTS

An

insurance policy ordinarily contains:

the

declarations

of

insurance,

the

description

of the

coverages,

the

limits

of

insurance

for the

various coverages,

the

policy conditions,

any

special conditions,

and

the

exceptions

or

exclusions with respect

to

coverage.

Policies

of

insurance written

in

Canada

are

typically prepared

by the

insur-

er

and

employ preprinted, standardized

forms

adopted

by the

Insurance

Bureau

of

Canada.

On

occasion, however,

a

manuscript policy will

be

pre-

pared

to

address

the

specific

needs

of an

insured.

A

manuscript policy

is

normally assembled

by an

insurance broker.

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