Intact ordered to pay tribunal award after year-long claim delay with no explanation
A Canadian insurance tribunal has ordered Intact Insurance to pay an award in a claims dispute after roughly a year passed with no explanation for the delay, according to a report on the ruling. The decision turns on how the insurer handled the file rather than on whether coverage existed in the first place.
What happened
A tribunal has ordered Intact Insurance to pay an award in a claims dispute after about a year elapsed without an explanation for the delay, according to a report on the decision. The ruling focuses on the insurer's conduct of the file — the pace of handling and the absence of reasons given to the claimant — rather than on a dispute over whether coverage applied. Awards of this kind are generally payable on top of the benefits at issue, functioning as a penalty for unreasonable delay rather than as a substitute for the claim itself.
What it means for consumers
This is a useful reminder that claims-handling timelines are not informal courtesies — they are enforceable obligations, and an insurer's silence is not a defence. For anyone in an active claim, the practical takeaways are straightforward: keep dated records of every submission, request status updates in writing, and ask specifically why a decision or payment is being held up. If answers do not come, escalate through the insurer's internal complaint process and then to the relevant ombudsman or dispute body. A documented pattern of unexplained delay is exactly the kind of evidence that supports an award.
What it means for premiums
No direct premium change has been announced.
Coverage considerations
Nothing in this ruling rewrites a policy. The coverage that was owed before the dispute is the same coverage owed after it — an award for delay does not expand what a policy pays, it simply raises the cost to the insurer of sitting on a file. Consumers should note two things: entitlement to benefits does not disappear because an insurer is slow to respond, and interest or additional amounts can accrue when payment is late. When comparing policies, it is worth weighing an insurer's reputation for claims service alongside the premium and the wording, since the cheapest quote is poor value if a legitimate claim stalls for a year. Policyholders with optional benefits or umbrella coverage should also confirm exactly what they purchased, so a delay never gets confused with a denial.