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Insurance - Life. Fehr v. Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada
In Fehr v. Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (Ont CA, 2024) the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed a class action appeal, here against an order dismissing the appellant's motion to add a common issue and amend the pleadings accordingly.
Here the court describes the life insurance policies involved here, giving an idea of the manner of their administration and marketing:[2] The class proceeding concerns the sale and administration of certain universal life insurance policies known as “Universal Plus”, “Universal Flexiplus” and “Universal OptiMet”, that were sold by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (“MetLife”) in the 1980s and 1990s. It is a feature of such policies that premiums are paid by the policyholder in variable amounts on a flexible schedule into an accumulation fund from which the insurer deducts monthly charges including cost of insurance (“COI”) and administration fees. Policyholders have the option to accumulate excess cash in the accumulation fund, thereby generating savings on a tax-deferred basis. The policy terms provide for the insurer to adjust the overall monthly COI rates and administrative fees and to vary “from time to time” the interest rates credited to the accumulation funds, subject to prescribed floor rates. . Costanza v. Desjardins Financial Security Life Assurance Company
In Costanza v. Desjardins Financial Security Life Assurance Company (Ont CA, 2023) the Court of Appeal reviews portions of the Insurance Act that bear on life insurance:[26] Part V of the Insurance Act governs life insurance. Sections 178 to 189.1 address conditions governing formation of the insurance contract. Section 183 codifies the duty of disclosure on an applicant for insurance at the time of the application (and at the time of some subsequent applications to vary an insurance contract) as well as the consequences of failure to disclose or misrepresentation. Section 183 provides as follows:Duty to disclose
183 (1) An applicant for insurance and a person whose life is to be insured shall each disclose to the insurer in the application, on a medical examination, if any, and in any written statements or answers furnished as evidence of insurability, every fact within the person’s knowledge that is material to the insurance and is not so disclosed by the other.
Failure to disclose
(2) Subject to section 184 and subsection (3) of this section, a failure to disclose, or a misrepresentation of, such a fact renders the contract voidable by the insurer.
Failure to disclose, application for change, etc., in contract
(3) A failure to disclose, or a misrepresentation of, a fact referred to in subsection (1) relating to evidence of insurability with respect to the following kinds of applications renders the contract voidable by the insurer, but only in relation to the addition, increase or change applied for:
1. For additional coverage under a contract.
2. For an increase in insurance under a contract.
3. For any other change to insurance after the policy is issued.
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