If you do not have a lawyer and you are dealing with ICBC on your own, the playing field is extremely uneven in that it heavily favours ICBC. This is because ICBC adjusters receive extensive on how to handle and settle claims to the benefit of ICBC, not you. ICBC adjusters have a significant…
Occupier’s liability in British Columbia imposes a duty on occupiers to take reasonable care that users of their premises are reasonably safe. This duty of care can be limited and excluded by an occupier in certain circumstances such as through releases and waivers of liability which are often required as a condition of participating in…
This claimant signed a membership waiver before being injured in a jiu-jitsu competition. He claimed the Jiu-Jitsu Academy was negligent in allowing him to compete in a higher weight class. The defendants however denied negligence and relied on two signed waiver forms preventing this slip and fall claim. The first waiver form was part of…
The central issues in this Court of Appeal settlement case are whether the parties reached a binding settlement agreement, and if the settlement was repudiated. This can sometime arise in ICBC personal injury cases after a settlement amount as been agreed upon but before the release has been signed. As an important principle in the settlement…
Three facts about settling an ICBC injury claim: 1. full and final release of all claims means there’s no turning back, 2. no further treatment paid by ICBC after settlement and 3. two ICBC claims to settle are tort and accident benefits. The ICBC claims settlement process for personal injury is very much dependent on the…
The deceased was shot and killed accidentally by a guide near Burns Lake, British Columbia while participating in a grizzly bear hunt. This is the wrongful death claim of the widow. At issue was a release of liability sign by the deceased for the hunting season the year before the hunt in which he was killed.(Cooper v. Blackwell,2017…
This injury claimant sustained serious injuries, including a broken leg, while snowboarding at Big White Ski Resort. The claimant said that he was injured when a known route from “Highway 33,” a ski run on Big White, to the Solana Ridge condominium complex led him over a sheer ten-foot drop down into a parking lot. As…
As a personal injury lawyer dealing with ICBC since 1995, having settled hundreds of injury cases, there are three certainties I have come to expect in every case. No matter the age, sex, or work ability of the claimant, here are three realities claimants should know about ICBC settlements: The claimant will be required to sign…
The law creating the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC, essentially prohibits an owner, driver or passenger from entering into a contract to exclude liability while in use and operation of a motor vehicle. The majority of our Court of Appeal have determined that such a waiver or release is contrary to the nature of…
In a Dramatic turn-a-round, on April 30, 2014, the BC Court of Appeal has overturned this wrongly decided waiver of personal injury case (Niedermeyer v. Charlton,2014 BCCA 165). Therefore the following principles no longer apply, unless changed by the Supreme Court of Canada or by statute. As of Signing a release and waiver of liability…