Tort Defendant May Call SABS Assessors as Fact Witnesses

You may recall that we recently blogged on the case of Beasley v. Barrand, in which Justice Moore held that accident benefits assessors could not be called as experts to testify for the tort defendant at trial. The link is here:

http://ontarioinsurancelaw.blogspot.com/2010/10/tort-defendant-not-permitted-to-call.html

In Anand v. State Farm (unreported decision, April 23, 2010), Justice Stinson followed Justice Moore’s decision, but held that the accident benefits assessors could be called as fact witnesses. They were not permitted to testify about their conclusions or opinions, but could testify about their observations of the plaintiff.