Important implications for ICBC settlements arise from this ground breaking Court of Appeal case forcing ICBC to pay double costs for failing to accept a reasonable offer of settlement (Meghji v. British Columbia (Ministry of Transportation and Highways,2014 BCCA 105 ). The court found that it is improper for ICBC to reject all settlement offers above the…
In this personal injury rollerblading case(Chabot v. Chaube,2014 BCSC 300) The claimant was not obliged to remove her inline skates to cross at a marked crosswalk but, having chosen to skate across the crosswalk, she was required to take reasonable precautions for her own safety considering her speed and visibility. Rollerblading within a marked crosswalk is not…
In many personal injury cases offers to settle are made before going to trial to avoid the cost and risk. These offers are referred to as “without prejudice offers of settlement”. In this tragic pedestrian crosswalk case(Paskall v. Scheithauer,) The claimant was asking for some $2 million but the jury only awarded her $82,400 and found…
British Columbia personal injury claims are different than anywhere else in the world for two mains reasons: 1. The creation of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC, and 2. the limited access to private healthcare. In Canada less than 30% out of the 2.29 million people injured annually go to a hospital emergency room…
After being injured in a car accident or fall and before you sign a statement for ICBC or give the insurance company permission to communicate with medical professionals and employers, consider getting professional advice. About 1200 people a day are injured in British Columbia and over 25 of those are permanently disabled as a result…
The First and Often Only ICBC Form to be Signed is the CL-22 Insurance Claim Application When making a claim for ICBC insurance benefits after a motor vehicle accident, the Insurance Corporation of BC can require that you provide information in a prescribed form. Get a copy of the ICBC forms you need by speaking…
In this falling asleep personal injury case (Holt v. Rother,2013 BCSC 1065) the claimant was a pedestrian on the shoulder of 350th Avenue in Oliver, British Columbia, and the defendant was driving returning from the beach in Okanagan Falls. The driver suddenly veered across the oncoming lane and struck the walking claimant causing personal injuries. The evidence…
Finding the best lawyer in Vancouver for a claim with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia depends on the type of case you have and the qualities you consider to be important. There are over 10,0000 lawyers in BC, most of them having offices in Vancouver. Not all ICBC claims require a lawyer and most…
As a personal injury lawyer in BC since 1995 I’m often asked how to settle whiplash back injury and soft tissue injury claims with ICBC and how much a case is really worth. Rear end car accidents tend to be the number one culprit and ICBC has standard procedures for insurance adjusters to follow before payments…
This side of the road car accident injury case(Ruchelski v. Moore, 2013 BCSC 492) applies the rarely used Presumption of Negligence principle set out in the seminal Supreme Court of Canada case of Fontaine. Experienced personal injury lawyers in Canada have been aware for some time that Fontaine completely did away with the rebuttable presumption of Res ipsa loquitur(the…