Tulloch v. Akogi is a decision of Justice Quigley, which considered the threshold under Ontario’s Insurance Act. The issue bring considered was whether the injured person met the threshold of having a permanent and serious impairment of an important physical function. Although this case was decided under bill 59, the decision may well be important when considering cases that fall under bill 198.
The injured person had been suffering with chronic lower back pain as a result of a car accident in Ontario in 1998. He appears to have received some no-fault benefits/accident benefits. However, income replacement benefits/etc. were not central to the decision.
The injured person had difficulty sitting or standing for sustained periods of time, his capacity to work, and his pleasurable activities.
Justice Quigley also cited the past cases on the meaning of permanent and serious under the threshold:
PERMANENT
Justice Quigley cited from a past case, stating that “[i]t is now trite law that chronic pain arising from injury sustained in a motor vehicle accident and which accounts for limitation in function unlikely to improve for the indefinite future will meet the requirement of permanence under the threshold”.
SERIOUS
Justice Quigley referenced another past case in holding that “serious impairment will be present where the usual activity of the plaintiff, including employment, continues after the accident in the presence of chronic pain, but where the chronic pain substantially interferes with the pre-accident capacity for work and pleasurable activity of the plaintiff, including meaningful and regular socialisation and capacity for household chores.”