If you are injured in a motor vehicle accident in the US and the negligent driver was driving a vehicle with US licence plates, ICBC will not be involved in the tort injury claim even if your automobile insurance was with ICBC. There is an exception, however, to this general rule. You may pursue…
In a previous blog article, we discussed what happens if you make a formal offer to settle to ICBC prior to trial and you beat that offer in that you are awarded the same or more than this offer by the judge. But what happens if ICBC makes a formal offer to settle and you…
The NDP have rolled out new ICBC policies including new Enhanced Care coverage. This “care based model” is advertised by the NDP as providing British Columbians with increased care such as payment for treatment ongoing indefinitely into the future despite settlement or judgement at trial. The NDP and David Eby are asking us to trust…
If you are injured in a motor vehicle accident that was not your fault, ICBC cannot outright deny your claim for not wearing your seatbelt, but ICBC can argue that you were contributorily negligent by relying on a seatbelt defence. Contributory negligence is a legal defence that ICBC uses to reduce an injured claimant’s compensation.…
In this car accident case (Winick v. Goddard 2020 BCSC 4), the 27 year-old female injured claimant was involved in 3 collisions. In the 1st car accident, the injured claimant sustained soft tissue injuries to her neck and back with pain radiating into her hip and legs that were aggravated by the 2nd car accident…
As was reported in a recent blog post, ICBC in 2019 rolled out its new policy of withdrawing settlement offers and replacing them with unreasonably low settlement offers. The result has been two-fold. First, ICBC is now dragging out claims for as long as possible in hopes that an injured claimant will give up and…
Dedicated bike lanes are now a commonplace in Vancouver. In fact, it has been 10 years since the first dedicated bike lane on Burrard Street Bridge was opened to much controversy after 2 prior unsuccessful attempts. With cycling becoming a more popular form of transportation, there is more potential for accidents to occur with vehicles.…
As discussed in a prior blog post, when a trial judge makes an award for pain and suffering (also referred to as non-pecuniary damages), the law is clear that in determining what is reasonable each case must be assessed individually depending on the nature of the injuries sustained by the injured claimant and on an…
There are various levels of court in British Columbia including the Provincial Small Claims Court, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. For motor vehicle accidents which occurred before April 1, 2019, ICBC claims are heard in either the Provincial Small Claims Court or the Supreme Court. The value of the ICBC claim will…
If an injured plaintiff returns to work after a motor vehicle accident and continues to work despite having injuries that will, at some point in the future, restrict or even prevent him/her from working entirely, is there a claim for loss of future earning capacity? The courts have held in many cases that the answer…