The claimant was involved in motor vehicle accidents in 2015 and 2016. At a global mediation on September 1, 2020, the claimant and insurer came to terms regarding a settlement for both accidents. Minutes of Settlement were drafted by the mediator and circulated to the parties. The AB claim related to the 2015 accident was resolved for $3,700.00. The AB claim related to the 2016 accident was resolved for $957,000.00. The plaintiff was obligated to structure at least 60 percent of the settlement amount. The insurer was to purchase a reversion of the structure to age 60. The claimant passed away on September 11, 2020, prior to executing settlement documents. Between the mediation and the date of her passing, the parties were finalizing details of how the settlement would be structured. The claimant’s sister was appointed Litigation Administrator for the claimant’s estate on October 1, 2020. The insurer took the position that there was no enforceable settlement between the parties, as the essential terms of the Minutes of Settlement (chiefly, direction on how the settlement was to be structured and the signing of the Release and SDN) were not completed by the claimant herself. The deceased claimant’s Estate submitted a LAT application, arguing that the settlement was not contingent on the claimant personally signing the Release and neither issue raised by the insurer was an essential term of the settlement agreement. At the hearing, the Estate sought payment of the 40 percent of the settlement that was not subject to the structure or reversionary interest. Vice-Chair Boyce agreed with the Estate, finding the parties entered into a binding settlement agreement which entitled the Estate to 40 percent of the agreed upon settlement. Vice-Chair Boyce found that the fact that the SDN and Release were not signed by the claimant herself did not negate the validity or enforceability of the settlement between the parties. Vice-Chair Boyce held: “While s. 9.1 of O. Reg. 664 requires an SDN be executed for an accident benefits settlement to be enforceable, an SDN is not for the benefit of the insurer and the Regulation does not provide that the Estate of a deceased claimant is prevented from signing an SDN.”
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