On December 19, 2012, the British Columbia Legislature brought into force various housekeeping revisions to the Insurance Act Regulation.
The revised regulation corrects internal references to various sections of the Insurance Act.
The revised regulations also include a new class of insurance exempted from the applicability of the statutory conditions. Under the revised regulation the statutory conditions will not be applicable to “crop and farm income insurance”, which is defined as insurance issued under the Insurance for Crops Act or Farm Income Insurance Act.
Most importantly, the revised regulation amends the wording of the notification of limitation period provisions. The first regulation issued was somewhat unclear as to when insurers were to give written notice to claimants of the applicable statutory limitation period. The revised regulation eliminates any uncertainty and the applicable section now reads:
4 (2) An insurer must given written notice to a claimant of the applicable statutory limitation period
(a) at the time or within 5 business days after the insurer denies liability for all or part of the claim, and
(b) at or within 10 business days after the first anniversary of the date the insurer receives notice of a claim or of an action under section 25 of the Act, unless the insurer has already
(i) adjusted the loss acceptably to the claimant or settled the claim, or
(ii) provided notice to that claimant under paragraph (a).
The revised regulation provides welcome clarity on the previous quixotic wording of the regulation governing the notification of limitation period provisions.
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