What is My ICBC Claim Worth – Assessing the Value of a Claim for Settlement

Quick Answer: “A Case Settles for what it is Worth” As a young lawyer I was told by my mentor Thomas O. Griffiths a case settles for what is it worth and was quickly put to work researching caselaw. I had a hard time understanding what he meant because you never know how much the…

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Personal Injury Settlement Includes Medical Booking Fee

This personal injury case settled for $75,000 plus costs and disbursements recognizing the claimant’s loss of quality of life. The remaining dispute however was over the  Claimants costs for hiring a booking agent to find a medical expert (Ross v. Logan, 2014 BCSC 548) . Taking a personal injury case to trial in British Columbia often…

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Settlement Offer of $450,000 Should have Been Accepted

Personal injury lawyers are often faced with advising clients about offers of settlement. This, claimant gets awarded less than settlement offer case(Brewster v. Li,2014 BCSC 463) illustrates the modern approach BC Courts are taking to pre-trial offers of settlement. If you don’t accept a reasonable offer, expect to lose your costs and disbursements for trial,…

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ICBC Injury Adjuster Suggests Concocted Complaints But Claimant Beats Offer to Settle

The evidence of an Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC, adjuster in this car accident personal injury case was rejected by the Supreme Court after she suggested the claimant had concocted her complaints of hand pain and associated numbness.(Kovac v. Moscone,2014 BCSC 259).  The accident occurred when the claimant was stopped at a red light at…

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$700,000 Settlement Offer Rejected- Jury Awards $65,920.00 to Pedestrian

In many personal injury cases offers to settle are made before going to trial to avoid the cost and risk. These offers are referred to as “without prejudice offers of settlement”. In this tragic pedestrian crosswalk case(Paskall v. Scheithauer,) The claimant was asking for some $2 million but the jury only awarded her $82,400 and found…

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$300,000 Personal Injury Settlement Offer Rejected- $250,000 repayment Ordered

This personal injury claimant suffered soft tissue injuries in a car accident which developed into pain disorder. The issue at trial was the assessment of damages, and the first jury awarded her $528,000.00. This amount was overturned on appeal creating a a new “Reliable Hearsay Test” in personal injury cases. The second jury awarded her only…

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ICBC Injury Claimant to Pay Double Costs after Rejecting $275,000.00 Offer to Settle

The personal injury award following a 25 day trial in this ICBC gets double costs case(Minhas v. Sartor,2014 BCSC 47) was $76,653.00, much less than the $3 million sought by the claimant and the $275,000 offered by ICBC before trial.  The judge, in one of the first times in BC legal history, has awarded ICBC…

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ICBC Injury Settlement- Explaining Costs and Disbursements

In this bus accident injury settlement, (Zhang v. Heikkila,2013 BCSC 2275) following the examinations for discovery and after three medical reports had been obtained the matter settled for $11,000.00 plus costs and disbursements. ICBC refused however to pay the cost of three medical legal reports but in this application was forced by the court to…

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ICBC Settlement not Family Asset in Divorce Proceeding

In this Personal Injury Settlement Divorce Claim case(2013 BCSC 1827) The wife  tried to claim half of the husband’s settlement from ICBC as a family asset. The husband kept his settlement from ICBC separate and did not use it for any family purpose.  He had actually placed the settlement money in a separate bank account and…

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ICBC Refuses Settlement Offer for Personal Injury and Forced to Pay Costs

In this double costs Fast Track personal injury case(Peacock v. Battel, 2013 BCSC 1902) the claimant made an offer to settle to settle her case for $125,000.00 but the defendant, insured by ICBC, refused making only a $41,000 offer. The court awarded the claimant $255,000 and found that ICBC should have accepted the claimants offer. This…

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