After settlement of a personal injury case with ICBC the last thing an injury claimant expects is another fight over the costs of the case. Well, currently the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC, seems to be welcoming settlement with an iron fist by fighting costs after settlement. In the personal injury case of Gray v. Kohnert,2014…
Anonymity is a feature of much Internet activity and is the foundation of a privacy interest that engages constitutional protection against things like unreasonable search (R. v. Spencer, 2014 SCC 43 ). However, claims for pain and suffering following a car accident require ICBC and other injury claimants to disclose the details of their loss, therefore, some…
In a stunning decision the BC Court of Appeal ordered a new trial after this personal injury claim was wrongly dismissed(Miller v. Dent, 2014 BCCA 234). The trial judge failed to determine whether the traffic light was green, red or yellow at the material time and therefore the Court of Appeal found that it was wrong…
A family doctor or specialist involved an in ICBC or other personal injury claim is often much less prepared for court than many personal injury clients expect. There are many factors to consider when finding a physician including experience, location, local resources, and the like. However, an understanding of their duty to the Court will…
This car accident injury claimant was offered $450,000 to settle his settle her personal injury claim against ICBC and its insured(Brewster v. Li,2014 BCSC 463). When the offer was refused the case proceeded to a Supreme Court trial and after 9 days she was awarded $418,500, over $30,000 lower than the ICBC Offer. The Judge…
When you are privileged you do not have to follow the rules of the road. This unanimous and successful appeal confirms that there is little room to find a police officer negligent for a car accident which results from the officer responding to a vehicle travelling at such an excessive speed (Maddex v. Sigouin, 2014 BCCA…
An award for personal injury losses requires a trial judge, orally or in writing, to provide adequate reasons justifying the award. However this was not done in the following case, illustrating the real prejudice inadequate reasons can pose to innocent personal injury claimants. The injury claimant, riding as a front seat passenger had her feet hanging…
This Car accident brain injury award for an 18 year old passenger (Hermanson v. Durkee, 2014 BCSC 877) arose from a single vehicle accident on a forest road in British Columbia. The vehicle left the road which resulting in the ICBC claimant suffering a severe traumatic brain injury and ruptured spleen. Because of the location of the motor vehicle accident there…
Finally Found! We have been receiving online ICBC claims information and reporting ICBC claims since 1999 for our personal injury clients. As a legal advocate for the injured I began reporting ICBC claims in 1995, before any online reporting systems existed. Unbelievably very little has changed in the ICBC reporting requirements since the regulations were…
Personal injury lawyers in British Columbia are often faced with having to attend one or more Case Planning Conferences (“CPC”) at the request of ICBC or other defendants in the normal course of litigation. These closed court CPC’s have a status of their own and, as recently revealed, are under veil of secrecy. The court…