Renn A. Holness is a gifted lawyer and author to over 1000 legal blog articles. Married father of two daughters, son of a neurosurgeon and founder of Holness and Small Law Group
Over $75,000.00 was added to this personal injury award on account of the Increased discount rates! (McLeod v. Goodman,2014 BCSC 1551), Future loss of earnings and costs of future care in ICBC injury claims now have to be increased to more accurately reflect the claimants real losses. As a result of changes to the discount…
This motor vehicle accident personal injury case required the Supreme Court to put a value on the pain and suffering for an eight year old boy with severe facial scarring and soft tissue injury. Tragically, his mother and his twin brother were killed, and his significant facial scarring had required him to endure numerous uncomfortable surgeries…
ICBC injury claims can often involve valuing pain and suffering for children and teenagers. This personal injury claimant was a 9 years old passenger in the front seat of her mother’s minivan when another vehicle failed to yield the right of way and collided with her right front bumper(Toopitsin v. McMullen,2014 BCSC 1486). She claims…
This personal injury claimant offered to settle with ICBC for $60,000.00 one day before trial. The offer was only open for acceptance until that same afternoon at 4 p.m. The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, insurer for the defendant, rejected the offer and the trial judge awarded the claimant over $67,000.00 (Barnes v. Lima, 2014 BCSC 1475).…
The question in this personal injury case was whether the claimant should be awarded the maximum amount for pain and suffering, reserved for catastrophic injury, or at something lower. On the evidence, the upper limit set by the Supreme Court of Canada, adjusted for inflation, was $351,000. This limit now applies to all ICBC personal…
This personal injury case began on Highway 1 approaching the Herrling Island exit when a sanding truck struck the claimant’s vehicle and caused him to lose control and hit the rock face. The Insurance Corporation of BC, ICBC, denied the hit and run claim on the grounds that it was a single‑car accident and that a…
Many slip and fall personal injury claims in British Columbia have been successful because the judge determined that the owner of a property had created an unusual danger. However with the introduction of the Occupier liability Act the common law concept as of “unusual danger” began to lose meaning and in Agar v. Weber, 2014 BCCA…
In this somewhat successful appeal, the BC Court of Appeal makes it clear that a car accident claimant, despite being a worker and being injured by a worker, is not statute-barred from maintaining an action for business-related losses that do not relate to personal injuries(Singh v. Sopper,2014 BCCA 243). The case involved a motor vehicle…
Help for children, youth and teenagers suffering from concussion and mild traumatic brain injury following a car accident just got easier. Concussion guidelines have been established for every adolescent aged 5 to 18 years who have or may have sustained concussions. Ontario is now ahead of British Columbia, including ICBC, in providing guidelines for managing and…
When a person is injured in a motor vehicle accident and has already attended a medical assessment set up by the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC, does ICBC have a further right to require the claimant to attend more medical assessments in the personal injury lawsuit against the other driver? Supreme Court Civil Rule 7-6(2)…