Principle Operator in ICBC Claim Wins Coverage

It can be confusing to determine the principle operator under ICBC auto insurance when reporting a car accident claim to the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia.  The issue in this case: who drove the automobile the majority of the time? must be established in the evidence ( Schaffner v. Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, 2015 BCSC 314) .…

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ICBC Claimant with Uncertain Grasp of the Law Loses Appeal

Personal injury claimants without lawyers should avoid long and unclear court submissions, a lesson from the following ICBC injury claim. This was an appeal from the dismissal of a lawsuit against ICBC for disability benefits related to a car accident which occurred in British Columbia. The Appellant went to court without a lawyer against ICBC…

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Teen awarded $8,500 for Cuts, Scrapes, Bruises and Scar

  The 15 year old Claimant in this personal injury case was one of nine teenage passengers in a vehicle travelling at a high rate of speed, planning to throw eggs at people. She had drunk from a shared 2‑litre bottle of alcohol cider and sat in the vehicle wearing no seatbelt. Before the accident…

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$160,000 Pain and Suffering for Mild Complicated Brain Injury

  Mild traumatic brain injury, MTBI, is often difficult to diagnose and as a result insurance companies like ICBC often refuse to pay proper compensation for this injury without judicial determination. In the following personal injury claim the Court acknowledges that patients who sustain complicated MTBIs generally exhibit long term or residual symptoms that often affect…

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Settling your Injury Claim Under Duress Without a Lawyer

As a personal injury lawyer since 1995 I have had many personal injury claimants call and regret settling their ICBC injury claims without a lawyer. It is very difficult to re-open a case after a settlement agreement release has been signed by the claimant. If the injury claimant has sought the advice of a lawyer…

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Factors for Valuing a Personal Injury Case

Understanding how to put a proper value on a personal injury case requires understanding the essential basics of estimating and assessing in personal injury law. Accidents after April 1, 2019 are subject the the ICBC Minor Injury Caps.First, the purpose for civil damages is to put a victim back in the position they were before…

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$150,000 Awarded for Somatic Symptom Disorder DSM-5

Determining the appropriate amount of money in a personal injury case for pain and suffering is and assessment and not a calculation. This assessment was made difficult in the following personal injury case when the court was forced to consider the opinion of an argumentative ICBC paid doctor (Redmond v. Krider, 2015 BCSC 178). Mindful of the…

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The Right to Die and ICBC Death Benefits- End of Life…Insurance

BC auto insurer, ICBC, must decide what happens to death benefits and survivor  insurance if a person chooses to have a doctor assist ending their life as a result of a catastrophic injury. Will  ICBC death benefit insurance be excluded even if  death would have occurred within the policy term anyway? Will ICBC pay for assisted death…

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Expert Reports and Exaggeration Finding Rejected- New Trial Ordered

In this sensationally important personal injury case the Court of Appeal has made it very clear that consulting reports must substantially comply with the Rules to be admissible as expert reports (Healey v. Chung, 2015 BCCA 38). This makes it very difficult for the personal injury claimant to get opinion evidence into court as “clinical records” are…

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