Selective Disclosure = Full Exposure: BC Court Expands Privilege Waiver In Coverage Case

• Published date: 25 August 2025
• Subject Matter: Insurance, Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Insurance Laws and Products, Disclosure & Electronic Discovery & Privilege, Trials & Appeals & Compensation
• Law Firm: CLC (Canadian Litigation Counsel)
• Author: Amrit Kalra (Brownlee LLP)

The Insurer's 'liberal' approach to document production opened the door to wider waiver of privilege inPacific Sands Beach Resort v. Co-Operators General Insurance Company, 2025 BCSC 858.

Owners of the Pacific Sands Beach Resort in Tofino, BC, sought coverage for damage to the property and the resort in the course of construction. When their claim for coverage was denied, the Plaintiffs filed an action against their insurer for breach of an insurance policy and breach of the duty of good faith in handling the coverage claim.

During the litigation, the Defendant insurer ' prompted in part by the Plaintiffs' persistence ' served several amended lists of documents, with repeated disputes over claims of privilege.

In October 2023, in an effort to resolve one such dispute, the defendant served a "Revised 4th Amended List of Documents," moving 454 documents from Part 4 (privileged) to Part 1 (may be used at trial), and explicitly waiving privilege over them. The accompanying letter described the production as a "liberal approach" intended to demonstrate the insurer's good faith in adjusting the claim.

Later, in November 2023, the...