The purpose of an award for pain and suffering, called “non-pecuniary damages”, is to provide money compensation that ameliorates the condition of an injured claimant. In making such an award, the following factors are relevant: age of the claimant; nature of the injury;severity and duration of pain; disability; emotional suffering; loss or impairment of life; impairment of family, marital and social…
Developments in personal injury law for 2015 are exciting and range from the new and approved claim of moral injury to new limits on sanctions that can be leveled against injury claimants. ICBC claimants that fail to accept a reasonable offer no longer have to pay double costs and Masters cannot impose financially crippling sanctions against claimants in the document…
The claimant slipped on a wet floor in the bathroom of the Nanaimo Burger King restaurant and injured his right shoulder and right knee. Buinesses are supposed to have a system in place for maintaining safety but the Court found no evidence that such system was in place (Scarfe v. Fernco Developments Ltd., 2015 BCSC 2310). In…
The Court Appeal has made it clear in this personal injury case that an award for loss of future earning capacity reflects the exercise of judgment framed by clearly articulated factual findings. To require the trial judge to say more than he did in this case would be to impose an impossible burden on trial judges (Fadai…
In this Chronic regional myofascial pain syndrome case the 35 year old ICBC claimant was stopped in her car at a red light when she was struck from behind by the defendant. Liability for the car accident was admitted. Injuries to her neck, upper and lower back, shoulders, depression, sleep disturbance, fatigue, headaches and has chronic…
A personal injury award for loss of future earning capacity was awarded to this claimant despite his janitorial business continuing to be successful and thriving since the car accident in question(MacDonald v. Joseph,2015 BCSC 1461) The claimant was a 29 year old passenger when the head on car accident occurred on Vancouver Island. The airbags deployed in the…
In the following personal injury case the claimant represented herself against a horse-riding business offering guided trail rides to customers. The claimant fell off a horse that she had rented while on a trail ride led by one of the guides (Starrett v. Campbell,2015 BCSC 1424). The claimant did not hire a lawyer to represent her at trial and…
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…
If you have lost income or vacation time due to a car accident injury, the Insurance Corporation of BC, ICBC, may be responsible for paying some or all of your net wage loss and vacation pay. The following is an outline and checklist for claiming loss of wages and an explanation of the claim for loss…
The claimant suffered injuries in a car accident, alleged loss of earnings but failed to disclose court ordered work calendars, personal loan documents, and income tax returns. The Master ordered a harsh sanction of $25,000 against the claimant for failure to disclose the documents. The Supreme Court ,on Appeal, however disagreed with this harsh and punitive sanction (Badreldin v.…