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…

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Personal Injury Claimant Without Lawyer Loses Appeal

This unrepresented personal injury claimant was a passenger involved in a car accident for which fault was admitted. At the Vancouver trial the Judge awarded the claimant $25,000 for pain and suffering, $2,066 for lost wages, and $1,084.45 in out of pocket expenses, much less than she sought.  The claimant therefore appealed alleging that the trial judge…

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ICBC Personal Injury Claim Settlement Costs Denied

This personal injury lawsuit was settled about 10 days before the beginning of the trial, after the claimant accepted an Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC, offer of settlement for approximately $155,000.00 plus costs and disbursements (Salsman v. Planes,2014 BCSC 1726). Following settlement, the claimant’s personal injury lawyer presented a bill of costs in the sum…

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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…

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Functional Capacity Evaluation Cost not Part of Personal Injury Settlement

This modest out of court motor vehicle accident settlement with ICBC concerned, in part, the costs of a Functional Capacity Evaluation (“FCE”) set up by the claimant’s personal injury lawyer.  The claimant suffered soft tissue injuries to his neck and upper back after the accident and had ongoing left shoulder pain. If the matter did not settle…

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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…

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Settlement of Two Personal Injury Claims means Double the Legal Costs

In this personal injury case involving two motor accidents occurring 6 months apart(Wang v. Dhaliwal,2014 BCSC 1662) the court awarded two set of legal costs totaling $13,000 in addition to the $59,000 out of court settlement. In British Columbia money you get for legal costs as a successful litigation are awarded to to help off-set the actual…

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ICBC Rate Increase 2014: The Truth About ICBC Injury Claims

Being a personal injury lawyer in Vancouver since 1995 gives me the benefit of some experiential knowledge when it comes to what ICBC says publicly about bodily injury claims and how they behave in private litigation. The recent attempt of ICBC to obtain an insurance rate increase is the latest example of a government corporation…

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