In prior posts, we discussed the NDP’s scheme to have ICBC injury claims decided by the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal. This is an appointed tribunal and all disputes are handled online. The tribunal was intended by the NDP to significantly limit the legal rights and compensation of ICBC injury victims. Most troubling, the NDP removed…
In the past year, an unusual number of ICBC cases have proceeded to trial. This is in large part due to ICBC’s current tactic of offering unreasonable and low ICBC settlement offers. As a result, numerous trials have been adjourned and postponed because there simply are not enough judges or courtrooms to handle the amount…
There are several new considerations when it comes to settling ICBC injury cases this year (**see update 2020 ICBC settlement predictions). ICBC began 2019 by withdrawing many settlement offers made in 2018 surprising many claimants without lawyers. Here is what to look out for when it comes to ICBC settlements: ICBC Internal Policy – ICBC…
Do not do the following when settling with ICBC: (1) Hold back your treatment expenses; (2) Agree to repay your employer’s insurance company after the settlement; (3) Put an inappropriate value on your case; and (4) provide unnecessary and irrelevant documents. You should know that even after settlement the ICBC settlement file will stay with…
Baffled, the Court was forced to award special costs after ICBC settled a personal injury case yet refused to pay costs. Lawyer Jacqueline Small obtained $2,000 in special costs and costs thrown away due to ICBC failure to response to a simple Bill of Costs. ICBC’s lawyer had failed to respond to the Bill of Costs…
In this Fast Track personal injury case, the claimant settled 5 months before trial and was successful in seeking the full amount allowed for legal costs pursuant to Rule 15-1(15) (Karp v. Kalsi,2015 BCSC 1949). The car accident in question occurred 4 years before the scheduled trial after the parties had exchanged documents and the claimant was examined for discovery.…
In this personal injury case a formal ICBC offer to settle in the amount of $77,400 was accepted by the claimant just two weeks before an 8 day trial. ICBC conducted surveillance of the claimant starting the day after the defendant made the offer to settle. The defendant’s therefore claimed the cost of the investigation…
In this personal injury case the ICBC insured driver rear-ended the claimant and knocked him off his motorcycle. The claimant suffered injuries to his neck which required surgery and ultimately resulted in devastating physical effects due to the onset of conversion disorder. The court awarded the claimant $2,735,818.16 for injuries received as a result of…
Once a claim for personal injury is settled there is often post settlement negotiations to award the reasonable case costs. This post settlement negotiation can have a dramatic impact on the money a claimant gets in their pocket after fees, expenses and taxes. In this personal injury case the defendants served the claimant with an…
ICBC has a statutory monopoly on third party automobile liability insurance coverage in BC and appears to be manipulating this monopoly in ominous new ways, testing our courts sense of justice. The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia has been systematically refusing to pay for necessary medical and other expert opinion upon settlement of cases to…