Financial hardship is expected for those injured in car accidents in British Columbia. David Eby and the NDP have brought back the 6% cap on injury victim’s case expenses. The Disbursement and Expert Evidence Regulation will create prejudice for those injury victims left fighting ICBC and their lawyers. The change in law prevents injury victims…
We have posted several blog articles on the new law passed by the NDP limiting the disbursements (legal expenses) ICBC is required to pay: Does ICBC have to pay my disbursements? ICBC’s insane profits and ICBC’s 6% disbursement cap The harsh reality of the ICBC disbursement limit – NDP provides ICBC with no limitations in…
In previous blog articles on the ICBC 6% disbursement cap, we discussed this new law that the NDP quietly passed with the sole purpose of saving ICBC money by prejudicing against an injured claimant’s ability to present his/her case. This new law limits the amount of disbursements recoverable from ICBC to 6% of the total…
Disbursements are legal expenses. Some examples of disbursements include the cost of ordering medical records, hiring a medical expert to provide an expert opinion, court filing fees, photocopies, faxes, etc. Most personal injury lawyers will pay for all disbursements on behalf of their clients until the end of the claim. Until recently, ICBC was responsible…
In a stunning blow to victims of personal injury the court has upheld a decision to pay only $20.00 to compensate a winning claimant for the non-expert testimony of a family physician. Unfortunately this will mean treating healthcare providers will now be subpoenaed to testify without payment for their preparation and attendance. (Luis v.…
The claimant was rear ended when stopped in traffic which caused her vehicle to strike the rear of another vehicle in front of her. This personal injury case settled on the Friday prior to the commencement of trial the following Monday. The settlement was for payment of $736,807.00 new money, plus assessable costs and disbursements for…
No sexy topic but ICBC has been welding it’s monopoly in the auto industry by forcing many innocent injury claimant’s to court over their case expenses. Photocopying costs vary greatly, medical clinics are unregulated and claimants can be forced to pay as much as $2.00 per page in these clinics. While the court has suggested…
Here is an important tip for personal injury lawyers in BC- If the family doctor ordered or requested your client to have a private MRI and the advice was followed, this cost should be claimed as a special damage, not a disbursement (Uppal v. Judge, 2016 BCSC 642, para 107). The following is a case in point in which the cost…
The Insurance Corporation of BC, ICBC, seems to have adopted the practice of settling ICBC claims and then fighting the claimant’s necessary and reasonable litigation expenses after settlement. However, the following ICBC injury claim stands for the proposition that claimants have a duty to ensure that all areas of the injury claim are supported with…
This personal injury lawsuit was settled about 10 days before the beginning of the trial, after the claimant accepted an Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC, offer of settlement for approximately $155,000.00 plus costs and disbursements (Salsman v. Planes,2014 BCSC 1726). Following settlement, the claimant’s personal injury lawyer presented a bill of costs in the sum…
“We pride ourselves on our results and our proven track record of success for over 20 years in representing thousands of injury victims throughout all of British Columbia and providing them with complete medical legal care.”