First Steps After an Auto Accident If you are at the accident scene: Move away from traffic; Make sure the police and paramedics have been called; Take photographs and video at the scene before the vehicles are moved; Obtain witness names and contact information- don’t talk to witnesses about how the accident occurred; Record details…
Part of my job as a personal injury lawyer often is to help claimants understand how much money they are entitled to receive from ICBC after a car accident injury. The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia is a Province wide government created insurance company responsible for compensated victims of personal injury on behalf of their…
It is my experience as a lawyer representing car accident victims that ICBC and other insurance companies regularly deny all the facts alleged by an injury claimant in a lawsuit with little or no explanation. This type of response to a civil claim appears to no longer suffice as adequate pleadings in British Columbia. In fact…
After a car accident the injured expect ICBC to act honestly when administrating accident insurance benefits under the universal auto insurance coverage. However the law in Canada has never imposed a duty on the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia to perform the terms of the contract of insurance honestly, until now. In the ground breaking…
My experience as a Vancouver Personal Injury Lawyer allows me to share a few unique insights into ICBC negotiated settlements. Settlement with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia when you don’t have a lawyer is inherently unequal. ICBC is a sophisticated insurance company with the experience of settling thousands of personal injury cases. Claimants often…
Hit and Run personal injury claims in British Columbia require injury claimants to name ICBC as a nominal defendant and prove that the unknown driver was at fault. In this hit and run bifurcated summary liability trial (Link v. Insurance Corporation of British Columbia,2014 BCSC 1765) the determination of liability was the sole issue before…
This modest out of court motor vehicle accident settlement with ICBC concerned, in part, the costs of a Functional Capacity Evaluation (“FCE”) set up by the claimant’s personal injury lawyer. The claimant suffered soft tissue injuries to his neck and upper back after the accident and had ongoing left shoulder pain. If the matter did not settle…
Being a personal injury lawyer in Vancouver since 1995 gives me the benefit of some experiential knowledge when it comes to what ICBC says publicly about bodily injury claims and how they behave in private litigation. The recent attempt of ICBC to obtain an insurance rate increase is the latest example of a government corporation…
This personal injury claimant beat her offer of settlement made 7 days before trial. As a result the Judge awarded the claimant double costs. The claimant was involved in a motor vehicle accident at the intersection of Lougheed Highway and Pinetree Way in Coquitlam, B.C. in which the claimant suffered mild to moderate soft tissue injuries and…
Help for children, youth and teenagers suffering from concussion and mild traumatic brain injury following a car accident just got easier. Concussion guidelines have been established for every adolescent aged 5 to 18 years who have or may have sustained concussions. Ontario is now ahead of British Columbia, including ICBC, in providing guidelines for managing and…