What is the effect of mentioning insurance in a personal injury case?

It is a well established rule that the mention of or reference to insurance in personal injury cases may result in a mis-trial in a case being tried by a jury. Bawhey v. Theakston (1951) 1951 CanLII 6 (SCC), S.C.R. 679. This rule persists even in these days of compulsory third party liability insurance for owners of automobiles and indeed it is observed with varying degrees of rigidity even in trials being held before a judge alone. It is doubtful whether the mention of insurance in the latter case would result in a mis-trial. However, the practice certainly poses a problem to counsel seeking to invoke the provisions of Section 313.