Christmas Day Motorcycle Ride Limits ICBC Injury Claim

This Christmas story involves four motor vehicle accidents all occurring within 2.5 years.  In a previous accident the claimant also sustained a serious brain injury. To make it more jolly, between the third and fourth accidents in issue, he was involved in two additional accidents. (Lamb v. Fullerton, 2016 BCSC 1694) Claims were made for pain and suffering,…

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Nurse Awarded $450,000 for Future Income Loss

This injury claimant was involved in 2 car accidents. In the first she was rear-ended by a cement truck. In the second accident she was in Victoria, on her way to the airport, when the taxi she was in was struck on the side by a minivan driven.(Lauriente v. Schoonhoven,2017 BCSC 2246) The claimant worked as an emergency…

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Shoulder Injury Caused by Car Accident Despite Delay

Following a car accident the resulting pain can be immediate but masked by other injuries for several days. The issue then becomes whether the car accident caused the injury given the symptoms may be reported several days or weeks after the car crash. In this personal injury case the claimant was travelling northbound on Highway 22 near Castlegar,…

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Injury to Arthritic Hand Warrants $95,000 Pain and Suffering Award

The court concluded that prior to the car accident the claimant had a number of “quiescent but present conditions” in his hands and wrists that would likely have become increasingly symptomatic over time even if the accident had never occurred. This included arthritis of the wrist and thumb. However, the fact that the defendants’ conduct triggered the…

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$180,000 Award for Pain and Suffering in Chronic Pain Syndrome Case

This personal injury case arose from a car accident which occurred at the intersection of 140th Street and 74th Avenue in Surrey when the other vehicle turned left into the path of the claimant’s vehicle. She was 58 year old at the time of the accident and sought compensation for pain and suffering, past income loss, future income loss,…

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Brain Injury Award Reduced due to prior Cocaine Addiction

In a stunning personal injury decision the Supreme Court has reduced a damage award for a brain injured 27 year old claimant. The court has taken judicial notice that cocaine is highly addictive, with heavy users facing a significant long-term and possibly life-long risk of relapse.(Kirilenko v. Bowie,2017 BCSC 2048) There was no real issue that…

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Offer to Settle Better than Jury Award and Costs Awarded Against Claimant

This personal injury claimant did not accept a reasonable offer to settle and the award at trial was significantly less than the offer. The claimant was offered more than $400,000 to settle his personal injury case before court but he refused. The jury awarded him under $200,000.(Luckett v. Chahal,2017 BCSC 1983) The court found the…

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$200,000 Pain and Suffering Award for Chronic Pain, Anxiety and Depression

This injury claimant was a front seat passenger travelling northbound on Highway 6, between the towns of New Denver and Playmor Junction in the Kootenay region of B.C. when the car went out of control nearing a corner, crossed the highway and came to rest in a ditch.  There were no other vehicles involved in…

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ICBC Claimant to Blame for Alcoholism not Impecuniosity

ICBC arguments on the failure to attend recommended treatment, mitigation,  are often narrow and focused, as displayed in the following $150,000 pain and suffering injury case. ICBC argued that prior substance abuse should result in a low award but the BC Supreme Court decided this ICBC case was worth over $720,000. The car accident was a head-on collision on…

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Hit and Run Driver must pay $100,000 in Punitive Damages

This personal injury case involved a driver that fled the scene of a car accident causing serious injury to the ICBC claimant. The judge was not only satisfied that it was the defendant that was the driver the judge awarded the claimant $100,000 in addition to the award as punishment for the hit and run driver fleeing…

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