$35,000 for Pain and Suffering Despite Prior Pain Condition

This personal injury claimant was found to have exaggerated the extent of her car accident related symptoms and failed to distinguish between her accident-related injuries and the effect on her life by her prior chronic neck and back pain (Ahmadi v. West, 2014 BCSC 2050). The ICBC injury claimant was injured in a motor vehicle accident…

Read more

Offer to Settle from ICBC Must meet Rule Requirements

The injury claimant was found to be totally at fault for a car accident at the intersection of King George Boulevard  and 68th Avenue, in Surrey, B.C. His personal injury claim was therefore dismissed and today I review the decision of the Judge regarding the case costs awarded to the successful defendant (Henry v. Bennett, 2014 BCSC…

Read more

Interest on Personal Injury Claim Loans Must be Foreseeable

This current law review relates to a motor vehicle accident injury case in which the claimant sought to recover the interest she was required to pay on advance settlement loans after being injured (Davidge v. Fairholm,2014 BCSC 1948). These loans were advanced to her by her lawyers to help her pay for out of pocket expenses not…

Read more

Drunk Gyrating Passenger Hits Steering Wheel Causing Crash

Driver and passenger were both drunk returning from an alcohol fueled weekend in the Okanagan. Four friends from the Lower Mainland were all drinking in the car when the injury claimant, the front seat passenger, began gyrating wildly to loud music which resulted in her hitting the steering wheel. The speeding vehicle swerved into a ditch…

Read more

ICBC rejects $65,000 offer to Settle and Must pay $193,500 plus Experts Fees

In this motor vehicle accident injury case the claimant offered to settle for $65,000.00 more than two weeks before trial and that offer was rejected.  The insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC, is the mandatory third party insurer for all BC drivers and in this case the defendant was ordered to pay over $193,500 plus double…

Read more

$85,000 Personal Injury Settlement leads to Fight Over Expenses

ICBC has a statutory monopoly on third party automobile liability insurance coverage in BC and appears to be manipulating this monopoly in ominous new ways, testing our courts sense of justice.  The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia has been systematically refusing to pay for necessary medical and other expert opinion upon settlement of cases to…

Read more

The Truth About Distracted Driving and ICBC’s Rate Increase 2014

ICBC gets a failing grade in my books when it comes to road safety expertise and providing accurate data about road safety. Their most recent attempt at obtaining a 5.2% rate increase is filled with misleading propaganda trying to convince drivers that there is suddenly a distracted driving catastrophe about to occur in our Province.…

Read more

Hit and Run Vehicle at Fault for Overtaking in Snow

Hit and Run personal injury claims in British Columbia require injury claimants to name ICBC as a nominal defendant and prove that the unknown driver was at fault. In this hit and run bifurcated summary liability trial (Link v. Insurance Corporation of British Columbia,2014 BCSC 1765) the determination of liability was the sole issue before…

Read more

Personal Injuries Overstated in Notice of Civil Claim

Personal injury lawyers in Vancouver and the rest of BC need to consider taking a new approach to making allegations of injury. Overstating injuries in a personal injury lawsuit, as found in this case (Rasmussen v. Blower,2014 BCSC 1697) can lead to a poor outcome. The claimant in this personal injury case was a passenger…

Read more

Loss of Earnings to Age 70 Accepted in Personal Injury Case

This successful personal injury case involved a 55 year old labourer that suffered a chronic grade 2 neck and back strain in a car accident(Amini v. Khania,2014 BCSC 1671). The claimant had been travelling south on Gladstone Avenue in Vancouver and was stopped at the intersection at a red light.  He testified that he waited…

Read more