J.F. v. Aviva General Insurance Company (18-012511)

The insurer brought a preliminary issue hearing on the grounds that the claimant was barred from commencing a proceeding for failure to attend NEB IEs. The insurer made several attempts to schedule NEB IEs, in response to which the claimant asked for the IEs to be rescheduled. The IEs were ultimately scheduled to take place shortly after the LAT case conference, and the claimant failed to attend. The claimant took the position that it was unreasonable to conduct IEs so closely after a case conference and she should be exempt from attending the IE. Adjudicator Norris disagreed, noting that there was no legislative or precedential basis for the claimant’s position. As such, the adjudicator found that the claimant was barred from disputing her entitlement to NEBs, but could proceed with her claim for entitlement to medical benefits.