A New Brunswick insurer's $0.30-per-kilometre transport rate survived a court challenge - but the ruling left a much bigger question unanswered.
The New Brunswick Court of Appeal, in a decision filed May 7, 2026, dismissed an appeal by an insured motorist who argued that Definity Insurance Company should be paying nearly double for her travel to medical appointments. The case is Prestidge v. Definity Insurance Company, 2026 NBCA 49.
Jaclyn Prestidge was injured in a motor vehicle accident on June 4, 2024. She drove regularly from her home in Moncton to physiotherapy and massage therapy - round trips of two and ten kilometres. Definity covered the travel at $0.30 per kilometre. Prestidge wanted $0.57.
She pointed to a prior King's Bench ruling in Bradley v. TD Insurance, where a judge had found a $0.57 rate reasonable, and to government benchmarks: the Government of Canada reimburses its employees at $0.575 per kilometre (increased to $0.60 as of July 1, 2025), while New Brunswick pays its own employees between $0.46 and $0.58, depending on annual distance.
The Court of Appeal was not persuaded. It found the Bradley decision was made "without full consideration" - the entire transcript ran three pages, the case was undefended, and there was no reference to the Standard Automobile Policy, the Insurance Act, or any case law. Prestidge also provided no evidence of her actual vehicle costs.
Justice LaVigne, writing for a unanimous panel, noted that neither the Insurance Act nor the Standard Automobile Policy defines what counts as "reasonable" expenses, lists transportation among covered services, sets a kilometric rate, or prescribes how one should be calculated. Reasonableness, the court said, implies a range - and more than one rate can be reasonable.
On the question of insurer discretion, the court walked a careful line. It acknowledged the Newfoundland Court of Appeal's finding in Crotty v. Aviva General Insurance Company, 2025 NLCA 39, that calling the obligation to pay reasonable expenses "discretionary" is an error of law. But it accepted that where no legislated rate exists, the insurer has to pick a starting number and begin making payments. That initial discretion is not absolute - the insured is not bound by it, and courts can step in if the rate is unreasonable or set in bad faith.
Here is where it gets interesting for the industry. Because Definity accepted that transportation costs were covered, the court never had to rule on whether Section B of the Standard Automobile Policy actually requires insurers to pay them. The court said plainly that this question "will be left for another day."
That day may not be far off. In Crotty, the Newfoundland Court of Appeal certified a class action against Aviva over its practice of not reimbursing transportation for trips under 25 kilometres. The gap between the insurer rates seen in these cases - $0.22 to $0.30 per kilometre - and government rates of $0.46 to $0.60 remains wide.
For claims teams across Atlantic Canada, the takeaway is straightforward: Definity's rate held up this time, but the deeper entitlement question is still open. And someone, somewhere, is going to bring it.
