Annuities for Personal Injury Awards may Trigger Child Support Payments

If you settle an injury claim with ICBC after a car accident, and receive lifetime payments from an annuity, should those payments be considered income for the purpose of child support payment obligations? We help answer that question in the following case review. K.T. suffered serious injuries in a motor vehicle accident and entered into a settlement…

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ICBC Settlement Money and Divorce – Does your Spouse get Half?

Settlement money for pain and suffering awards are excluded from family property division in British Columbia so your ex-wife or ex-husband is not entitled to half. However, it is critically important in a family law proceeding to have evidence and demonstrate to the court that the ICBC settlement award is in fact excluded. As a personal injury…

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The Truth about ICBC Injury Settlements

As a personal injury lawyer dealing with ICBC since 1995, having settled hundreds of injury cases, there are three certainties I have come to expect in every case.  No matter the age, sex, or work ability of the claimant, here are three realities claimants should know about ICBC settlements: The claimant will be required to sign…

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Injury Settlement of $77,400 Reduced by Investigation Costs

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…

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Injury Claim Settles for $85,000 But Insurer Fights Costs

The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC, is a government created corporate monopoly for third party auto insurance.  ICBC has recently began to use its’ power, after injury claimants accept an offer of settlement, to refuse injury claimants the cost of diagnosis, assessment and treatment of  personal injuries(ICBC denial of costs provokes court comment). In this…

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ICBC Injury Claims include Cost of Functional Capacity and Cost of Care Reports

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…

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Car Accident Settlement – Costs Same Proportion as Liability

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…

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Negotiating a Settlement with ICBC

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…

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The $25,000 ICBC Personal Injury Settlement Offer

May 24, 2019- Whether personal injury claimants have been diagnosed with whiplash, soft tissue injury, WAD (whiplash associated disorder), back or neck injury, a $25,000 offer from ICBC to resolve a personal injury claim can be temping to accept, especially with minor injury caps.In British Columbia money awarded for pain and suffering is assessed and…

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ICBC Personal Injury Claim Settlement Costs Denied

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…

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