Ortiz v. Dominion of Canada General Insurance Co., (2001) 139 O.A.C. 180 (CA)

• Judge: Carthy, Charron and Sharpe, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (Ontario)
• Case Date: December 18, 2000
• Jurisdiction: Ontario
• Citations: (2001), 139 O.A.C. 180 (CA)

Ortiz v. Dominion of Can. (2001), 139 O.A.C. 180 (CA)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2001] O.A.C. TBEd. JA.034

Salvador Ernesto Ortiz (Respondent) v. The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company (Appellant)

(C34477)

Indexed As: Ortiz v. Dominion of Canada General Insurance Co.

Ontario Court of Appeal

Carthy, Charron and Sharpe, JJ.A.

January 10, 2001.

Summary:

Ortiz was injured in a motor vehicle acci­dent in Guatemala involving an uninsured driver. Ortiz was insured under his wife's motor vehicle insurance. Ortiz and the wife's insurer moved for a determination as to whether Ortiz was entitled to uninsured automobile coverage for the injuries suf­fered. Specifically, they sought a deter­mination as whether the territorial limits applied to uninsured motorist coverage under s. 265(1) of the Insurance Act.

The Ontario Superior Court, in a decision reported at [2000] O.T.C. Uned. C71, held that the territorial limits did not apply and Ortiz was entitled to coverage. The insurer appealed.

The Ontario Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, set aside the order and ordered that Ortiz was not entitled to coverage.

Insurance - Topic 5004.1

Automobile insurance - Compulsory gover­nment schemes - General - Territorial coverage limits - Ortiz was injured in a motor vehicle accident in Guatemala in­volving an uninsured driver - Ortiz was insured under his wife's motor vehicle insurance policy - Section 265(1) of the Insurance Act contained the uninsured automobile coverage provisions and did not contain territorial limitations - The Uninsured Automobile Coverage Regula­tions provided that "[i]n so far as ap­plicable, the general provisions, definitions, exclusions and statutory conditions as contained in a motor vehicle liability poli­cy also apply to payments under the con­tract under subsection 265(1)" - The wife's policy limited coverage to damage oc­curring in Canada, the United States or a vehicle travelling between ports of those Countries - The Ontario Court of Appeal held that the policy's territorial limits applied to limit uninsured motor coverage mandated by s. 265(1).

Insurance - Topic 5181

Automobile insurance - Compulsory gov­ernment schemes - Uninsured or underin­sured motorist coverage - General - [See Insurance - Topic 5004.1 ].

Cases Noticed:

Prasad v. Gan Canada Insurance Co. (1997), 100 O.A.C. 63; 33 O.R.(3d) 481 (C.A.), dist. [para. 8].

Statutes Noticed:

Insurance Act Regulations (Ont.), Unin­sured Automobile Coverage, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 676, sect. 10 [para. 6].

Uninsured Automobile Coverage - see Insurance Act Regulations (Ont.).

Counsel:

J.M. Dillon, for the appellant;

Vicki Edgar, for the respondent.

This appeal was heard on December 18, 2000, by Carthy, Charron and Sharpe, JJ.A., of the Ontario Court of Appeal. Sharpe, J.A., delivered the following decision for the court on January 20, 2001.