Pain and Suffering Award of $95,000 for Moderate Pain Disorder

This ICBC claimant was injured in a rear ender when driving on Boundary Road in Vancouver. When traffic came to a stop the claimant was rearended by a pick-up truck pushing her car about two car lengths into a van that had previously stopped in front of her. Immediately she experienced pain in her right leg, left…

CPP not Considered a Policy of Insurance by Supreme Court of Canada

  Canada Pension Plan  (“CPP ”) disability benefits are not considered part of a “policy of insurance” says the Supreme Court of Canada ( click here for Sabean v. Portage La Prairie Mutual Insurance Co., 2017 SCC 7) as CPP is a mandatory government program. This is an important decision for injury claimants in Nova Scotia. However, this decision…

Fatally Flawed Medical Malpractice Award Overturned on Appeal

  The B.C. Women’s Hospital and one of it’s nurses successfully appealed this $1.7 million personal injury award in which they were found to have negligently injured a patient ( 2015 BCSC 1941 ). The trial judge found the Nurse to have breached her duty of care owed to the patient, when placing the claimant’s left foot on…

Bus Driver Negligent on Circumstantial Evidence

In a case of bus driver negligence causing injury, the Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal of ICBC and Translink, finding the circumstantial evidence adequate to infer negligence (click here for Benavides v. ICBC, 2017 BCCA 15). However, the Court of Appeal sidestepped the real underlying issue: should public carriers be under a stricter test of…

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…

Dismissal of Jury in Personal Injury Case Part of the Final Order

  This Court of Appeal decision assists appellants by not requiring leave for dismissal of juries in ICBC personal injury cases. The lawyer representing ICBC in his closing argument in front of a jury alleged that the claimant told half truths in her testimony about the car accidents and her injuries. This was in itself…

ICBC Dial a Claim Phone Number Used to Record Statements

After a car accident a phone call to the ICBC dial a claim number at 604-520-8222 or 1-800-910-4222 will result in an internal ICBC report being created called a CL-75. As displayed in the following case, these reports to ICBC can be used to impeach claimants and witnesses about the details of the accident. Watch our…

The ICBC Settlemet Offer that Got Away

In this personal injury case ICBC made a settlement offer of $70,000.00 plus costs 4 business days before trial and the claimant did not accept the offer nor respond with a counter-offer (Ben-Yosef v. Dasanjh, 2016 BCSC 1945 ). This was a four day Fast Track Trial. The Court awarded the claimant $32,548.52 plus costs as a result of…