$100,000 Award for Facial Scarring and Whiplash

This motor vehicle accident personal injury case required the Supreme Court to put a value on the pain and suffering for an eight year old boy with severe facial scarring and soft tissue injury. Tragically, his mother and his twin brother were killed, and his significant facial scarring had required him to endure numerous uncomfortable surgeries…

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Teenage Personal Injury Claimant Awarded $45,000 for Pain and Suffering

ICBC injury claims can often involve valuing pain and suffering for children and teenagers. This personal injury claimant was a 9 years old passenger in the front seat of her mother’s minivan when another vehicle failed to yield the right of way and collided with her right front bumper(Toopitsin v. McMullen,2014 BCSC 1486). She claims…

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Maximum Injury Award for Pain and Suffering $351,000

The question in this personal injury case was whether the claimant should be awarded the maximum amount for pain and suffering, reserved for catastrophic injury, or at something lower.  On the evidence, the upper limit set by the Supreme Court of Canada, adjusted for inflation, was $351,000. This limit now applies to all ICBC personal…

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Offer to Settle Upheld Against Injured Bus Passenger

The claimant was injured when he fell while riding a bus.  We reviewed the  trial decision, Injury on Bus Fault of Driver and Elderly Passenger. The Court assessed the claimant’s total compensation at two thirds of $35,100, which is $23,376.66. This article is a review of the claimant’s  application to recover two thirds of the costs of the personal injury…

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Pain and Suffering Claims for Loss of Online Anonymity

Anonymity is a feature of much Internet activity and is the foundation of a privacy interest that engages constitutional protection against things like unreasonable search (R. v. Spencer, 2014 SCC 43 ). However, claims for pain and suffering following a car accident require ICBC and other injury claimants to disclose the details of their loss, therefore, some…

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Traumatic Brain Injury Results in $2.5 Million Award for Teenager

This Car accident brain injury award for an 18 year old passenger (Hermanson v. Durkee, 2014 BCSC 877) arose from a single vehicle accident on a forest road in British Columbia. The vehicle left the road  which resulting  in the ICBC claimant suffering a severe traumatic brain injury and ruptured spleen. Because of the location of the motor vehicle accident there…

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Family Doctor Not Required at ICBC Personal Injury Trial

No adverse inference was drawn by the judge after the claimant failed to have his family doctor testify at the personal injury trial. (Fabretti v. Gill,2014 BCSC 899). This ICBC injury case involved a car accident that occurred on the Pattullo Bridge in New Westminster. The claimant was only 12 years old at the time. He…

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$100,000 Injury Award for Loss of Housekeeping Services

After suffering injury in three car accidents the claimant was awarded over $450,000 for pain suffering, past loss of earning capacity, impairment of future earning capacity, cost of future care, costs associated with vocational assessment, rehabilitation treatments, special damages and loss of housekeeping services (Parhar v. Dawe,2014 BCSC 580). Liability was not an issue but…

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What is My ICBC Claim Worth – Assessing the Value of a Claim for Settlement

Quick Answer: “A Case Settles for what it is Worth” As a young lawyer I was told by my mentor Thomas O. Griffiths a case settles for what is it worth and was quickly put to work researching caselaw. I had a hard time understanding what he meant because you never know how much the…

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$140,000 Award for Pain and Suffering with no Income Loss

Money compensation from ICBC and other insurance companies for pain and suffering should be dictated by the amount claimants are able to obtain under the law. In this car accident case the personal injury claimant was driving along Jacklin Road near Sooke Road in Victoria, B.C. when another car struck her right rear section while exiting a…

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