VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 2, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The following is being announced by Koskie Minsky:
Lawyers in Toronto have filed three separate class actions against Traders General Insurance Company, Kingsway General Insurance Company and CIBC General Insurance Company/Certas Direct Insurance Company. Car owners who held policies with the insurers may be eligible for a refund of their insurance deductible as a result of their car being written off as a total loss. Each claim seeks damages in the amount of $50 million.
Koskie Minsky (Toronto) filed the claims against the insurers. The claims allege that the insurers retained the salvage obtained from the cars, but did not pay the car owners the actual cash value of the car, having withheld the deductible. A June 2001 Ontario Court of Appeal ruling states that car owners must be paid the actual cash value of their car, not the actual cash value less the deductible.
Similar claims against a number of private and public insurers have already been filed across Canada.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca