Prior ICBC Settlement not Deducted from Injury Award

Should a prior ICBC Settlement amount be deducted from a second and new car accident injury claim? We answer this question in today’s a motor vehicle accident case review. This personal injury case involves  a chronic pain claimant with a prior accident she settled with ICBC for $153,300 plus case expenses (the “Settlement”).  Should the claimant be awarded a global amount…

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ICBC Claims Made for the Injured

So much has been written about how to make an effective personal injury claim with ICBC, key steps to the claim are often overlooked.  Personal injury lawyers that have made hundreds or thousands of injury claims have the experiential knowledge to utilize three keys steps to starting any ICBC injury claim. Without effective advocacy for victims of personal injury…

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Apology at Car Accident Scene Not an Admission of Liability

This first personal injury case of 2017 is a classic example how various witnesses to a car accident will remember the circumstances differently.  This is also an unusual ICBC rear end crash in which the person hitting the other from behind is found 75% at fault. As Supreme Court Judge Griffin pointed out: Even honest witnesses will…

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Functional Capacity Recommendations Awarded if Linked to Doctor Assessment

This personal injury award, $186,000 for injuries suffered in two motor vehicle accidents, was appealed by ICBC, the defendant’s insurer. The judge found the ICBC appellants liable for the two car accidents but ICBC argued that the judge had made serious mistakes in her findings of fault for the injuries and her findings of fact supporting the…

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$75,000 Pain and Suffering Award for Aggravation of Prior Condition

In this personal injury case the claimant was injured in two car accidents and claimed to have suffered a chronic pain syndrome.  The judge found the medical expert opinion evidence presented to be highly unsatisfactory. Therefore judge Saunders was not persuaded that there was a “but for” causative link between either of the subject accidents and…

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Injury Claim Reduced by 10% for Failure to Seek Alternative Employment

After a car accident injury a claimant has a duty to mitigate, or minimize his or her losses. However this case takes mitigation to new levels, expecting a career carpenter to seek alternative employment or face a reduction in his injury claim (Klein v. Sangha,2016 BCSC 1864. The claimant was 39 years of age at trial and…

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Progressive Loses Subrogation in Personal Injury Claim

Progressive insured the Washington State claimants in two separate personal injury actions in British Columbia. The claimants were riding a motorcycle in British Columbia when they collided with a rental vehicle. The claimant’s insurance policy provided that Progressive would pay “reasonable expenses incurred for necessary medical services” received by the plaintiffs as insureds “within three years of the date…

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Injury Claim Made with ICBC in Three Steps

ICBC personal injury claims can become complicated to even the most experienced lawyers. After 21 years making ICBC injury claims as an injury lawyer I would like to share a few important tips to make your claim process easier. If you want to be covered for your injury claim here are three steps you absolutely need…

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$135,000 Pain and Suffering Award for Somatic Symptom Disorder with Chronic Pain

This whiplash injury claimant was injured at a deli in Langley, British Columbia and claims damages for pain and suffering; Past loss of earning capacity; Loss of future earning capacity; Cost of future care; and Special damages She was a customer standing in the store when a vehicle crashed into it. The claimant was pushed into the wall of the deli,…

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Injury Victim Failed to to Use Antidepressant Medication and Loses 50% of Claim

In an understated but significant reduction in the injury award Judge Verhoeven made the following comment about the failure to use antidepressant medication, In this modern age such treatment does not have the stigma it once did, and I find that her refusal to take treatment is unreasonable and the defendant should not have to…

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