Tuesday, May 3rd, 2016 — An Ontario jury has taken the unusual step of imposing $175,000 in punitive damages on insurance companies that denied compensation to a man who lost his home in a fire.Before the jurors came back with their award on April 19, a judge told jurors that punitive damages should only be imposed in exceptional instances of marked misconduct. Abdul Hamid Haji-Fazul, 44, lost his house and all its contents on his then-40-hectare rural property in Stevensville, south of Niagara Falls, Ont., in a fire in April 2011. Haji-Fazul was insured by Lloyds Underwriters under Contract PM900 and Sovereign General Insurance Co.
Recent Ruling Reminds Insurers To Act In Good Faith
An Ontario jury has taken the unusual step of imposing $175,000 in punitive damages on insurance companies that denied compensation to a man who lost his home in a fire. Before the jurors came back with their award on April 19, a judge told jurors that punitive damages should only be imposed in exceptional instances of marked misconduct.