Since 2010, Holness and Small Law Group has written over 1000 legal blog articles. We believe that staying informed and current with personal injury news and case developments is essential to providing proper legal services to our clients when advocating for their rights.

ICBC Thwarts Summary Trial in Hit and Run Injury Claim

In this continuing personal injury saga the claimant’s  left foot and ankle were struck by a rolling mounted truck tire from an unidentified vehicle, while he was riding a motorcycle on Highway 1 near Chilliwack, British Columbia(Walker v. Doe, 2014 BCSC 746). The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC, was a nominal defendant in this lawsuit,…

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An All Inclusive Offer to Settle Can Now Attract Double Costs

In this offer to settle a personal injury case Judge Funt has done away with the old rule against all-inclusive offers to settle. That is to say the Judge entertained an $250,000 all-inclusive  pre-trial offer of the defendant when awarding double costs to the defendant, changing the law and overturning our Court of Appeal in Helm v. Pattie(1998),…

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ICBC Offer to Settle Personal Injury Claim Attracts Costs

ICBC’s offer to settle this personal injury case for $125,000.00 was just above the $121,600 awarded by the court. As a result the judge denied the claimant his costs after the date of the ICBC offer for the first accident and, having found the second car accident caused no injury, awarded costs to the other successful…

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$100,000 Injury Award for Loss of Housekeeping Services

After suffering injury in three car accidents the claimant was awarded over $450,000 for pain suffering, past loss of earning capacity, impairment of future earning capacity, cost of future care, costs associated with vocational assessment, rehabilitation treatments, special damages and loss of housekeeping services (Parhar v. Dawe,2014 BCSC 580). Liability was not an issue but…

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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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ICBC Personal Injury Adjuster Must Disclose Reports and Notes

It is not uncommon for the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC, to initially accept fault for an accident and then later change their mind.  ICBC personal injury lawyers assisting victims will welcome this case (Pavan v. Guolo,2014 BCSC 648) as it makes it clear that ICBC must produce all documents gathered in the investigation…

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$140,000 Award for Pain and Suffering with no Income Loss

Money compensation from ICBC and other insurance companies for pain and suffering should be dictated by the amount claimants are able to obtain under the law. In this car accident case the personal injury claimant was driving along Jacklin Road near Sooke Road in Victoria, B.C. when another car struck her right rear section while exiting a…

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ICBC Settlement Offers now to Factor in Insurance Limits

Important implications for ICBC settlements arise from this ground breaking Court of Appeal case forcing ICBC to pay double costs for failing to accept a reasonable offer of settlement (Meghji v. British Columbia (Ministry of Transportation and Highways,2014 BCCA 105 ).  The court found that it is improper for ICBC to reject all settlement offers above the…

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Injury on Bus Fault of Driver and Elderly Passenger

This 93 year old personal injury claimant completely ignored  medical advice that he not travel on public transportation unassisted and injured his right shoulder after  trying to exit a moving bus (Bideci v. Neuhold, 2014 BCSC 542). There is however prima facie negligence against public carriers and the driver was found 2/3  at fault for not looking carefully…

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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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