What, then, is the duty of the insured? Both counsel cited Marcoux v. Halifax Fire Ins. Co., 1948 CanLII 41 (SCC), [1948] S.C.R. 278, 15 I.L.R. 81, [1948] 4 D.L.R. 143. In that case there had been an accident but the insured, acting on information before him, felt that there was no substance to it. The court held that notice should have been given. Since the insured knew there had been an “accident”, the case is of limited assistance. Taschereau J., in holding that the insurer should have been given notice, said [p. 147]: “a man of ordinary prudence would have foreseen that a claim could arise therefrom.” In a separate, concurring judgment, Rand J. said [p. 150]: “I feel bound to conclude that there was sufficient to indicate to a reasonable and prudent person that bodily injury had most probably been suffered.”
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