INSURANCE ISSUES AND VIATICAL SETTLEMENTS - PART IV
In our final blog on this topic (for now), we wanted to look at Canada's perspective in regard to viatical settlements. At page 10 of the report produced by the Canadian Centre for Elder Law Studies, the study reviews the current law in Canada.The authors note that, in Canada, laws regulating the business of insurance and insurance contracts are primarily found in provincial and territorial statutes. An example of the legislation prohibiting trafficking in life insurance policies is set out in Section 26 of the British Columbia Insurance Act, where the legislators state that any person other than an insurer or its authorized agent ... who traffics or trades in life insurance policies for the purpose of procuring the sale, surrender, transfer, assignment, pledge or hypothecation of them to himself or herself or any person, commits an offence against this Act.
The authors of the study comprehensively set out arguments for and against legalizing viatical settlements (see pages 22 to 30 of the report).
The authors then go on to set out models for reform (see page 31) and, interestingly, Ontario is the one province that has been considering the legalization of viatical settlements. In fact (at page 32 of the report), the authors note that the Ontario draft regulation in respect of this legislation remains the leading model for law reform in Canada. While the current government of Ontario does not appear to have any interest in pursuing this issue, the language is carefully prepared and will no doubt prove to be an important benchmark when this issue becomes a priority for a new government. In fact, the study paper includes at Appendix A a draft Ontario viatical settlement regulation (2001), and it proves to be an interesting read in respect of the details of the type of legislation that could be pursued.
In conclusion, at page 49 of the study, the authors note that the study paper has set out the legal background to a project on viatical settlements and that it has shown that there are a number of issues for further consideration. It is clear to us that, upon review of the comprehensive study on this topic, and given the market forces, it is likely that we will hear much more about viatical settlements in the insurance industry as the growth in the elder population continues.
We hope that this review of this interesting topic has been helpful. Ian and I are going to take a bit of a summer break and we have asked our fellow firm members to join the blogosphere. Next week, our partner, David Smith, will be blogging but we will be back after that.
We hope you're enjoying the summer!
All the best, Suzana and Ian. --------
