B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has dismissed a small claims case from a woman who said a former friend should have used credit card insurance to reimburse her for a cancelled trip.
According to the Sept. 1 decision, Claudette Hawkins booked a Caribbean cruise in January 2020 to depart that March from Florida. She paid $3,235 for both fares (her own and that of Angela Terrillon). She charged her Visa ($2,110) and used her credit card’s points program (a $1,124 value).
Terrillon told tribunal vice-chair Shelley Lopez that she and Hawkins agreed each would charge their respective credit cards for different parts of the trip.
The pair's flight out of Montreal was delayed and they missed the cruise’s departure, the ruling said. Then, Terrillon fell on March 6 before they were to rejoin the ship.
They never took the cruise and Hawkins booked them a flight home from St. Maarten.
Terrillon said Hawkins should have made a claim against her credit card’s insurance and then given her that money.
Hawkins denied agreeing to make a claim through her credit company and argued doing so would have been fraudulent.
Terrillon said she gave Hawkins a $975 cheque and another cheque, for a total of $2,400; however, Hawkins said Terrillon never paid her anything for the cruise and that Terrillon owes her $1,869.
Lopez said the difficulty for Terrillon is that she submitted no supporting evidence to prove she paid Hawkins anything.
“Ms. Terrillon has the burden of proof and Ms. Hawkins denies receiving any money from Ms. Terrillon for the trip,” Lopez said.
“Without explanation, Ms. Terrillon failed to submit clearly relevant evidence, such as copies of cancelled cheques, showing what she allegedly paid Ms. Hawkins.”
Lopez said Terrillon also failed to submit evidence showing Hawkins did receive or could have received insurance coverage for Terrillon’s alleged trip expenses, through Visa or otherwise.
“Given the lack of clearly relevant evidence, I dismiss Ms. Terrillon’s claim,” Lopez said.
