IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NOVA SCOTIA
Citation: Nova Scotia (Attorney General) v. Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada, 2003 NSSC 227
Date: 20031104
Docket: S.H. 149142
Registry: Halifax
Between:
The Attorney General of Nova Scotia, Representing
Her Majesty The Queen in Right of the Province of Nova Scotia
Plaintiff
v.
Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada, Guardian Insurance Company
of Canada, The Halifax Insurance Company, Wellington Insurance Company,
General Accident Assurance Company of Canada and Quebec Assurance Company
Defendants
LIBRARY HEADING
Judge: The Honourable Justice Gerald R. P. Moir
Heard: October 27, 2003
Subject: Practice: Discovery, Interrogatories, Questions related to issues between the parties; Insurance: Reasonableness of insured’s settlements where insurer refuses to defend, proof of same.
Summary: Plaintiff sued to recover from insurers numerous settlements of claims concerning abuse of children at provincial institutions. An insured may recover settlements from an insurer who wrongly refused to defend if settlement was reasonable. Plaintiff sought to question insurers as to how they had settled other multi-party claims.
Issue: Semblance of relevancy?
Result: The reasonableness of an insured’s settlement involves an utterly individual and circumstantial assessment. What others would have done in other circumstances is irrelevant.
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