In prior blog posts, we have written about ICBC’s current strategy of making low offers to settle which drive cases to trial unnecessarily instead of settling for a fair and reasonable amount. This has resulted in enormous amounts of money being spent by ICBC wastefully with the NDP instead blaming injured claimants. ICBC’s mismanagement and…
Previously in the last few months, we announced 2 trial wins against ICBC on behalf of our clients. We are very pleased and proud to announce another win for our client at trial against ICBC. Our client was 31 years-old who suffered chronic soft tissue injuries and depression as a result of 2 motor vehicle…
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…
David Eby and his NDP government have been very vocal about ICBC’s financial problems. Instead of making changes to ICBC’s management who are responsible for its policies and procedures that are clearly not working, the changes made are directed at injured claimants by eroding their rights. Shouldn’t the ICBC executive who are responsible for how…
In this case review the injury claimant was rear-ended in a car accident and claimed a loss of $500,000 due to her injury. The defendants admitted liability and called for a jury trial. About two months before the jury trial the defendants made an offer to settle the case for $50,000 plus taxable costs and disbursements. Two weeks before…
In awarding this personal injury claimant double costs for beating the pre-trial offer of settlement, the Supreme Court has articulated 5 key principles to consider if you beat an offer to settle. The defendant insurer State Farm cancelled a mediation because their view was that mediation to settle the car accident claim had little chance of…
If an offer to settle a personal injury claim with ICBC is not in the proper form and not served on all the parties of record, the court can deny costs even if the offer is beat- Granja v. Jozsef, 2017 BCSC 1087. The injury claimant offered to settle his case for $70,000 before trial. ICBC refused…
In complicated civil litigation there may often be multiple orders of the court, some in favour of a litigant and some against. All the while offers to settle are being exchanged privately. What does it mean by the end of a trial to beat an offer to settle and be “substantially successful”? The Court of Appeal…
In this ICBC personal injury case the claimant was awarded $622,500 after she was injured by a vehicle that turned left across the path of her vehicle. The claimant had however made an offer to settle to ICBC one week before the trial for $315,000 plus costs and disbursements, which was rejected. The claimant was therefore entitled to an…
The settlement amount offered to ICBC and the timing of the offer is important to a claim for double costs, even in “Fast Track” cases. As a general rule, the successful party in a fast-track personal injury case is awarded $6,500 in pre-trial costs and $1,500 in costs for each day of trial. Where an offer to…