$120,000.00 Awarded Against ICBC for Somatic Symptom Disorder and Chronic Pain

As discussed in several prior blog posts, damages for pain and suffering for ICBC cases, known as non-pecuniary damages, compensate injured claimants for the pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and loss of amenities experienced as a result of the defendant’s negligence to the date of trial and into the future.  The amount awarded…

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Proving Mental Injury (Psychological Injury) In ICBC Personal Injury Claims – Expert Evidence Not Required

The Supreme Court of Canada in Saadati v. Moorhead 2017 SCC 28 has set a precedent which helps injured claimants access justice more easily against ICBC and other insurance companies for mental injuries such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and somatic symptom disorder. In this case, the injured claimant was injured in a motor…

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$150,000.00 Pain and Suffering for Somatic Symptom Disorder

Written by Ms. Jacqueline A. Small, B.A. LL.B In this personal injury case the ICBC injury claimant was rear-ended while stopped for traffic on the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver (Verjee v. Dunbrak 2019 BCSC 1696). At trial, the injury claimant argued that the motor vehicle accident caused her to suffer from ongoing chronic pain in…

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$125,000 Nervous Shock Award for Accident Witness

The claimant witnessed his wife get hit by a motorcycle as they jaywalked across Yates Street in Victoria. Although not hit himself, the claimant suffered a severe emotional reaction. He therefore claimed compensation for the mental injury. Nervous Shock : Legal Elements “Psychiatric injury” is the favoured term over “nervous shock” (see 1999 decision of…

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$1.1 Million Awarded to Teenager with Somatic Symptom Disorder

In this personal injury case the claimant suffered injury in two motor vehicle accidents for which she was not at fault. The claimant was a 16 year-old high school student, enrolled in Grade 11 when the first car accident occurred.  It requires the capital asset approach to assess the value of personal injury case when…

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Pain and Suffering Award Increased to Account for Mental Injury

This Court of Appeal injury case is filled with lots of legal analysis for personal injury lawyers such as early retirement loss, subrogation and mandatory net wage loss of ICBC claimants. In this article I will focus on the increase in the claimant’s award for emotional pain and suffering.  The claimant suffered physical and emotional injuries as…

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$175,000 Pain and Suffering for PTSD and Soft Tissue Injury

Valuing psychiatric injury and proving post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD, is an evidentiary challenge. This PTSD injury claim reviews several  cases in which PTSD was established. This case involved a 55 year old truck driver injured in a motor vehicle accident on Highway 1 near Chilliwack, BC. Having found the other driver 100% at fault the court…

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Beating an Offer to Settle: 5 Principles for Double Costs

In awarding this personal injury claimant double costs for beating the pre-trial offer of settlement, the Supreme Court has articulated 5 key principles to consider if you beat an offer to settle. The defendant insurer State Farm cancelled a mediation because their view was that mediation to settle the car accident claim had little chance of…

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Test for Mental Injury the Same in Contract as Tort

  Personal injury lawyers should know this wrongful dismissal contract case, as the employer successfully appealed a $30,000 mental distress award for aggravated damages. The Court of Appeal found there was no evidentiary foundation for a mental injury award for aggravated damages  despite the Supreme Court Case Saadati (Lau v. Royal Bank of Canada,2017 BCCA 253).  In…

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