Aviva Class Action Lawsuit

March 19, 2024 – Notice of Certification has now been sent to all Class Members. For more information on the Notice Program and next steps, please visit www.avivaclassaction.ca.

If you are an Aviva policyholder we are strongly encouraging you to complete the Class Member Form (please click here) so that we can contact you to discuss the next step. We are also encouraging you to submit a claim to Aviva, as soon as possible, if you have not yet done so.

Following the Certification Motion hearing on January 30 and February 1, 2023, the Honourable Justice Morgan released his decision, certifying the class action. You can read the decision by clicking here. Information on next steps for class members will be provided following the conclusion of the appeal process.

Thomson Rogers has issued a Canada-wide class action proceeding claiming $100 million in damages on behalf of Canadian businesses who have been denied business interruption insurance by Aviva Insurance Company of Canada (“Aviva”) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aviva sold Enterprise Insurance Policies (the “Policies”) to Canadian businesses, which included protection for the loss of business income as a result of an outbreak of a contagious or infectious disease (“contagious disease coverage”).

Canadian businesses small and large have applied to Aviva for contagious disease coverage and have been denied coverage by Aviva, which takes the position that the global COVID-19 pandemic does not qualify as a contagious or infectious disease under the Policies.

The Representative Plaintiff, Nordik Windows Inc., is a window manufacturing and installation company located in Ontario, which had to close its operations for several months as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thomson Rogers has been contacted by Canadian businesses who have suffered extreme economic hardship as a result of Aviva’s failure to honour their business interruption claims and seeks damages including punitive damages on their behalf.

“Aviva has allegedly failed to honour its good faith obligations to its policyholders with respect to business interruption claims resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This has put Canadian companies on the brink when they are most vulnerable,” said Robert Ben and Stephen Birman, partners at Thomson, Rogers.

Many Canadian businesses are unaware that they have contagious disease coverage and have not submitted claims to Aviva.

“Canadian businesses insured by Aviva should immediately review their policies to determine whether they include these significant coverages that are often referred to as Restrictive Access, Negative Publicity or Interruption by Civil Authority coverages,” say Robert Ben and Stephen Birman.

For further information regarding this claim, please contact:

Robert Ben at Thomson Rogers (rben@trlaw.com or 416-868-3168) or
Stephen Birman (sbirman@trlaw.com or 416-868-3137).