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…
In this first reported personal injury case of 2014 the judge awarded the claimant $100,000.00 for pain and suffering and reduced it by 40% to $60,000.00 reflecting that only 60% of her ongoing complaints and symptoms were caused by the car accident, with the balance attributable to her pre-existing condition.(Raikou v. Spencer,2014 BCSC 1). The judge…
This stunning and important Court of Appeal decision increased a loss of future earning capacity award making it easier to predict court awards in personal injury cases(Jurczak v. Mauro,2013 BCCA 507). Changing the tide following Perren v. Lalari, 2010 BCCA 140 the Court of Appeal appears to be embracing a more practical, mathematical and predictable approach…
For the injured driver, pedestrian, cyclist or passenger looking to hire a lawyer, remember case deadlines in the ICBC claim process are not suspended during the period that you do not have a lawyer. Dealing with an insurance company like ICBC is part of my job as a personal injury lawyer so let’s just say…
British Columbia personal injury claims are different than anywhere else in the world for two mains reasons: 1. The creation of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC, and 2. the limited access to private healthcare. In Canada less than 30% out of the 2.29 million people injured annually go to a hospital emergency room…
Lawyers for ICBC Gain access to Raw Test Data Despite the Directives of the College of Psychologists of BC After suffering a brain injury in a motor vehicle accident, will the Court Order the psychologist to copy records to ICBC? As a Personal Injury Lawyer in British Columbia since 1995 I have had to hire registered psychologist…
In this pub owner serves excessive alcohol case(Hansen v. Sulyma, 2013 BCCA 349), the injury claimant was left a quadriplegic as the result of a car accident at Blubber Bay Road on Texada Island. She was seated as a passenger in a vehicle stopped on the shoulder of the road when the impaired defendant, having…
After being injured in a car accident or fall and before you sign a statement for ICBC or give the insurance company permission to communicate with medical professionals and employers, consider getting professional advice. About 1200 people a day are injured in British Columbia and over 25 of those are permanently disabled as a result…
The answer is NO a signed statement is not required after a car accident when applying for accident benefits from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC. You are required to give a written report not a signed statement. As a personal injury lawyer in BC since 1995 I refuse to let my clients sign unnecessary…
After the settlement of a car accident injury claim the costs of medical examinations and reports, if the settlement terms allow, can be put in dispute. In this reasonable expenses part of settlement case (White v. Reich, 2013 BCSC 1234) a motor vehicle injury case settled very shortly before trial. In dispute was the cost…