In 2015 the Ontario Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990 c.C.18
was amended to provide that Rule 53.10 of the Rules of Civil
Procedure, R.R.O. 1990, which calls for pre-judgment interest
at 5%, no longer applies to cases involving car accidents.
The policy rationale underlying the amendment was the climate of
low interest rates over the past few decades. At the time of the
amendment, the rate of pre-judgment interest under s.127 of the
Courts of Justice Act, R.R.O. 1990, c.C.43 (the
"Act") was 1.3%.
Courts have been reluctant to embrace this approach in cases
which do not involve car accidents, until the recent Court of
Appeal decision of MacLeod v Marshall 2019 ONCA 842
("MacLeod").
The court recognized that a trial judge has the discretion to
allow interest at a lower rate having regard to changes in market
rates, under s.130 of the Act.
