Another insurance carrier is headed to court as the Catholic Church seeks to recoup millions more shelled out to Canadian victims of sexual abuse.
The Diocese of Moncton is the second to file a civil lawsuit against an insurer, this one aimed at Co-Operators General Insurance. The goal is to win back the $4.2 million dollars it has already paid out to victims of sexual abuse.
The move follows the civil action launched by the Diocese of Bathurst earlier this week against Aviva for just over $3 million.
The two cases share more than just timing and the assertion that sexual abuse should in fact have been covered under diocesan liability insurance. Both Catholic districts participated in a compensation process led by a former Supreme Court jurist and interviewing more than 150 victims of the abuse.
While a lawyer representing the Bathurst diocese acknowledges that the church knew of the abuses. His client contends that the church was unaware that sexual abuse, in fact, constituted an insurance risk. He also pointed out that Aviva had not asked the church previously whether there were any cases of abuse.
In Co-Operators case, it claims the church is "excluded from coverage."
