My experience as a Vancouver Personal Injury Lawyer allows me to share a few unique insights into ICBC negotiated settlements. Settlement with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia when you don’t have a lawyer is inherently unequal. ICBC is a sophisticated insurance company with the experience of settling thousands of personal injury cases. Claimants often…
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…
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…
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…
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…
If a pedestrian is hit by a British Columbia car, ICBC accident benefits can provide up to $150,000 in medical rehabilitation expenses and disability benefits of up to $300 per week. If the same pedestrian was hit by a bicycle, she would get nothing. The Chinese tourist pedestrian killed by a cyclist in Stanley Park…
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…
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.…
Personal injury lawyers in Vancouver are in often required to travel to remote areas of British Columbia to examine witnesses. This Supreme Court case however may help change all that. In Schroeder v. Sweeney, 2014 BCSC 1843 the defendant was trying to force the Claimant to attend Examination for Discovery at an Okanagan court reporters office.…
This personal injury Claimant was walking through a parking lot of a strip mall in Cranbrook, B.C. when he was struck by and injured by a motor vehicle. The trial judge concluded that the driver was 33 1/3% liable and the Claimant was 66 2/3% liable for the accident. However the Claimant’s appeal was allowed and…