I am excited to confirm that someone in Alberta just beat a major insurer in Small Claims Court (properly known as the Alberta Court of Justice Civil Division). The entire process to have their LTD reinstated along with back pay was a lot faster than making the previous internal appeals, and it cost less than $500.
Serving the insurer and going through the mandated initial mediation session forced a full settlement. The insurer struggled to justify the termination, the mediation judge was extremely kind to the claimant and very critical of the insurance provider. The risk of trial pushed the insurer to resolve quickly with a settlement offer.
If you have specific questions you can DM me. The above is the extent to what I can share publically as a third party. I’ll also only respond to established users/accounts.
As someone with quite a bit of legal background, this one confuses me.
In Ontario, there are 3 Superior Court locations that have mandatory mediation (Toronto, Windsor, and Ottawa) per the Rules of Civil Procedure.
Mediation is, obviously, not binding. Plenty of cases go through mediation with no improved outcome for the Plaintiff and in many cases the Defendant will simply use the mediation as a way to bleed the Plaintiff of money.
All the insurer had to do here was to stall and to force the Plaintiff to continue having to litigate (e.g. post Statement of Claim, the Defendant would serve a Statement of Defence. The Plaintiff might waste money with a Reply. Then the Plaintiff would have to burn money for mediation, then Motions, etc). Then, they’d go through an AOD, Productions, then a Discovery Plan (changes incoming in 2026, perhaps).
Also, why or how did a Plaintiff sue an Insurer in Small Claims Court unless 1) the LTD contractual obligations were low $ wise, or 2) Something different in Alberta’s Rules?
Hi, I can provide some answers as long as they aren’t case speciific:
In Alberta, Small Claims Court handles claims up to $100,000. Additional amounts, such as further accrued LTD back payments accumulate, may be claimed later, provided each claim stays under $100,000 per submission.
An Albertan small claims defendant has 20 days after being served to file a Dispute Note (or Counter Claim). The court may grant a short extension (usually up to 14 days) for a valid reason, but multiple extensions are very rare.
Alberta Small Claims timelines are much shorter than Alberta King’s Bench due to simplified procedures and very limited discovery. Also, courts strongly discourage bypassing mediation ( which usually occurs within 90 days if delay tactics are used). Also, refusing to participate in mediation without a good reason can affect judicial perception. We did a bunch of research on this topic and found out from recently retired judges that requesting to bypass small claims court mediation is an EXTREMELY BAD idea.
There is more detail I could add, but unfortunately that makes it case specific.
Forgot to add, that in Alberta mediation is NOT binding. However, during mediation you get to show your cards without predjudice, which can force an insurer into a settlement to avoid being embarrassed publicly if it were to go to trial.