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Interpretation Of Restriction Of Risk Clauses In Automobile Insurance Policies, James A. Rendall

Dalhousie Law Journal

A recent British Columbia case, Sabell et al. v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company has attempted a definition of the standard automobile insurance policy restriction against "driving in connection with the business of selling automobiles".' This judgment by Ruttan, J. is mildly surprising for a number of reasons. It places a generous interpretation on a clause used by an insurer to restrict its risk and, in the result, recovery is denied to a third party claimant. Thus, the judgment represents something of a departure from the usual judicial treatment of exclusion clauses which are most commonly construed rather strictly against the …