This was an appeal by the Defendant insurer SGI. At trial, the insurer was held to be liable to insure the loss by fire of the insured’s logging equipment. At issue was the communication between the insurer, the third party agent, and the insured Plaintiff. Between the time of the insured’s first policy issued in 1987 and the loss in May 1996, there were a number of oral revisions, yearly renewals, and additions to the equipment insured under the policy. One of the revisions was a warrantee requiring biannual inspections of fire prevention equipment. The insured never conducted those inspections and claimed he was not informed about the warrantee by the agent. The trial judge found that there was an oral contract of insurance in place at the time of the loss, accepted that the insured was not informed of the new warrantee and held that as the warrantee was unilaterally imposed by the insurer it was unenforceable. On Appeal, the court upheld the result at trial although on a different basis, finding that there was a new contract of insurance in place with each yearly renewal, and at the time of the loss, in May, the Plaintiff was in compliance with the warrantee which required only bi-annual inspections. A third party claim against the agent was dismissed.
L.L.A. Logging Ltd. v. Saskatchewan Government Insurance, [2004] S.J. No. 228, Saskatchewan Court of Appeal