AFM231 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Contributory Negligence, Punitive Damages, Product Liability
17 Apr 2013
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Courts rely heavily on precedent to guide them. Philosophically they are hard to grasp they do contradict the basic distinction between criminal and tort law (punishment vs. compensation). Relative rare in canada and where applied, conservative decisions. Pilot insurance co. (2002) supreme court of canada see quote next slide: Insurance contracts, as pilot"s self-description shows, are sold by the insurance industry and purchased by members of the public for peace of mind. The more devastating the loss, the more the insured may be at the financial mercy of the insurer, and the more difficult it may be to challenge a wrongful refusal to pay the claim. The obligation of good faith dealing means that the appellant"s peace of mind should have been pilot"s objective, and her vulnerability ought not to have been aggravated as a negotiating tactic. It is this relationship of reliance and vulnerability that was outrageously exploited by pilot in this case.
