Paper presented by Richard B. Lindsay, QC, P.Eng. & Scott W. Urquhart.
Many losses can be traced to multiple causes. One cause of a loss can trigger insurance coverage under a policy, while another cause may be expressly excluded by an exclusion clause in that same policy. In such a case of “concurrent causation”, issues and, of course, litigation will often arise. The central question is whether the parties to an insurance contract intended a loss to be covered by insurance. Where that intent is made clear by the language of the policy, the answers ought to be straightforward. But in cases where the intent is not clear, and this will often be the case in matters involving serial, interdependent causes, the answers to the questions, ‘does the cause of this loss fall within coverage’, and ‘is the cause excluded by the language of the policy’, are not so easy. Some have suggested that the courts and legislatures ought to adopt an expansive, liberal approach to the problem so as to simplify matters. Others maintain that an ongoing effort to discern and respect the intent of the contracting parties is paramount. In this paper, presented at the BC Continuing Legal Education Society conference, Causation in Tort II, held in Vancouver on June 2 and 3, 2011, Richard Lindsay and Scott Urquhart examine this problem of concurrent causation and the approaches taken to it by practitioners and our courts.
Richard B. Lindsay, QC & Scott W. Urquhart, “Concurrent Causation and Insurance Contracts” (2011) 29 Can. J. Ins. L. 65.
Richard B. Lindsay, QC
Partner Lawyer in Insurance Law & Litigation
Lindsay Kenney – Vancouver Office
Scott W. Urquhart
Associate Lawyer in Insurance Law & Litigation
Lindsay Kenney – Vancouver Office