Paul Kereluik v. Jevco Insurance Company and Conceta Deabreu et al

Lerners successfully represented the respondent, AXA Insurance (Canada), in this appeal. The case considered statutory condition 4(1) of the standard automobile policy and whether an insured was not “authorized by law to drive” at the time of an accident because he was driving while intoxicated at a time when he was subject to a bail condition requiring him to abstain from the consumption of alcohol. The Court of Appeal agreed with the position taken by AXA that statutory condition 4(1) was not breached by the insured when he was driving in contravention of his bail condition, and that statutory condition 4(1) is only breached when a driver is operating a vehicle when not licenced to drive, or when driving in breach of a condition of the insured’s driver’s licence.