In this important and first Supreme Court personal injury case of 2018 the court accepts that a claim for past loss of earning capacity involves a consideration of hypothetical events. Therefore an ICBC injury claimant is not required to prove these hypothetical events on a balance of probabilities when claiming loss of past opportunity to earn.(De Groot…
This injury claimant was a front seat passenger travelling northbound on Highway 6, between the towns of New Denver and Playmor Junction in the Kootenay region of B.C. when the car went out of control nearing a corner, crossed the highway and came to rest in a ditch. There were no other vehicles involved in…
ICBC arguments on the failure to attend recommended treatment, mitigation, are often narrow and focused, as displayed in the following $150,000 pain and suffering injury case. ICBC argued that prior substance abuse should result in a low award but the BC Supreme Court decided this ICBC case was worth over $720,000. The car accident was a head-on collision on…
This injury claimant’s failure to follow medical advice resulted in a 10% reduction in the award for pain and suffering. The claimant was stopped at a red light at East 49th Avenue and Knight Street in Vancouver when his vehicle was rear-ended. The court found that he suffered soft tissue injuries to his neck, back and right shoulder. In reducing…
This case provides an important restatement of the law of evidence regarding the burden of proof in personal injury cases: [110] The burden of proof of actual past events is a balance of probabilities. An assessment of loss of both past and future earning capacity involves consideration of hypothetical events. The plaintiff is not…
This car accident claimant with born with spina bifida, scoliosis and kyphosis. When she was three she had her fibula taken from her left leg and fused into her spine. All her life, she has suffered pain, primarily from the kyphosis. However, she has always managed that pain (Cantwell v. Warren, 2017 BCSC 856). The car accident…
This is a personal injury case arising out a car accident which occurred on Howes Street in New Westminster. As the claimant entered an intersection on a green light another vehicle suddenly turned in front of her causing a collision. Loss of the ability to do work within the home is compensable as a loss of…
A money award after a car accident or fall is meant to provide some solace to an innocent victim of personal injury. Some injuries are not amenable to treatment or complete recovery, such as chronic pain syndrome, and victims will have to suffer pain for the rest of their lives. In today’s ICBC case example…
This was an assessment of the claimant’s losses arising from a motor vehicle accident in Nanaimo. The claimant’s vehicle struck the other vehicle broadside, and he suffered multiple soft-tissue injuries in a very heavy collision. He was a stoic individual that did not like to complain about his injuries, which makes assessment difficult for the court. As…
There are two types of losses, or damages, that can be claimed following a car accident whiplash injury in which the claimant is not at fault. First, Pecuniary damages for income loss and calculable out of pocket expenses. Second, Non-pecuniary damages to compensation for pain, suffering and loss of amenities and loss of enjoyment of…
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