Marcelo v. The Personal Insurance Company, 2026 ONSC 974
This appeal by the Insured centred on whether the injury she suffered in a motor vehicle accident was properly considered to be a “minor injury” under the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS). The Insured was found by a CT scan to have suffered brain injury arising from a left frontal intracranial cerebral brain contusion. The LAT focused on the fact that the definition of Minor Injury in the SABS included the word “contusion” and found that since the Insured’s diagnosis was a contusion, that it fell within the definition of a minor injury so that she was not entitled to benefits for catastrophic impairment The Divisional Court granted the appeal, finding that the LAT had made an error of law by focusing on the injury and not the impairment. The Court noted that the examples set out in the definition of Minor Injury were musculoskeletal in nature while elsewhere in the SABS, catastrophic impairment is defined, in part, by traumatic brain injury in which intracranial contusions have been found. Thus, the context of the word “contusion” in the legislation made clear that brain contusions were not to be considered minor injuries. Moreover, “including a brain contusion in the definition of “minor injury” does not promote the consumer protection purpose of the SABS, which is to reduce the economic dislocation and hardship suffered by people who have been injured in an automobile accident.” The LAT’s decision was set aside, and it was ordered that the Insured be removed from the Minor Injury list and provided with the benefits she should have received.