Insurance Law

With one of the leading insurance law teams in Eastern Canada, RSS demonstrates considerable expertise in the most diversified cases. This is the first in a series of biannual newsletters that will highlight the variety of cases that we handle. Click here for more (PDF).

On December 13, 2018, new provisions in the Civil Code of Québec relating to insurance and divided co-ownership came into effect. Several new rules have been introduced. Click here to read more (PDF).

A party may sometimes be represented by two lawyers to defend a claim: one designated by its insurer to defend against the demands involving an insured interest, and another selected by the party itself to address other grounds that may have been raised. The validity of this double representation was the focus of the Superior […]

A corporation of which you are a shareholder claims to have sustained important damages which, in your view, were caused by the fault of professionals. These damages and losses caused the corporation’s bankruptcy. Can you, as shareholder, sue the professionals to claim compensation for the corporation’s damages? No, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Brunette […]

In 9192-2401 Québec inc. (Fabrication Pro-Fab) c. Villeneuve (Immeubles Jolik), 2018 QCCA 1143, the Court of Appeal underlined that in a claim by a lessee against a lessor, in virtue of article 1854 CCQ, the lessee must prove that the damages were caused by either a defect, a default or a failure of the leased […]

Homeowner insurance policies frequently exclude vacant dwellings from coverage. But is a building considered vacant when its owners have not yet moved in while visiting occasionally to prepare the premises? The Superior Court recently examined this question in Nkana c. La Garantie, compagnie d’assurances de l’Amérique du Nord, 2018 QCCS 4265. Click here to read […]

A hotel operator offers travellers to park their car in its parking lot while they’re on their winter vacation. A car is stolen while its owner is away. The hotel operator’s liability is at stake. Must one conclude that the car was under its care, which would deprive it of insurance coverage under the “care, […]

Compensation for property damages is awarded to allow restoring the situation that prevailed before the damage. A court will therefore award an amount sufficient to repair, rebuild or replace the damaged property. But what if the cost of making the victim whole again is increased because of external factors, such as more rigorous standards than […]

The Court of Appeal’s decision in Garand c. Fiducie Elena Tchouprounova, 2018 QCCA 876, rendered on July 19, 2018, discusses the starting point for the prescription period when dealing with defects that appear gradually. Click here to read more (PDF).

In Grandmaître c. Lacombe (2016 QCCS 2216), the Superior Court held that a self-builder who sold an immovable was not a professional seller and consequently could invoke a clause excluding the legal warranty against hidden defects. The Court of Appeal recently affirmed this decision in Grandmaître c. Lacombe (2018 QCCA 651). Click here to read […]