The Supreme Court of Canada in Saadati v. Moorhead 2017 SCC 28 has set a precedent which helps injured claimants access justice more easily against ICBC and other insurance companies for mental injuries such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and somatic symptom disorder. In this case, the injured claimant was injured in a motor…
This Court of Appeal injury case is filled with lots of legal analysis for personal injury lawyers such as early retirement loss, subrogation and mandatory net wage loss of ICBC claimants. In this article I will focus on the increase in the claimant’s award for emotional pain and suffering. The claimant suffered physical and emotional injuries as…
The new NDP injury cap legislation degrades chronic psychiatric conditions to “minor injuries” and leaves claimants without a legal advocate. This change tramples on individual rights and its only aim is saving ICBC from elimination. The vulnerable, the innocent that develop chronic illnesses due to car accidents will be offered a maximum one time payment of…
Mental injury has also been referred to by courts as psychological injury, psychiatric injury, emotional trauma, nervous shock, hysteria, mental distress, and a host of medical terms such as conversion disorder, somatic system disorder, post traumatic stress disorder and clinical depression. The Supreme Court of Canada in Saadati has synthesized all these terms down to…
When it comes to psychological injury and psychiatric injury claims after a car accident a vulnerability to injury is not required if the emotional injury is proven as being caused by the collision. However, alternative but equally acceptable is the “egg shell personality” approach for individuals that may have suffered from prior psychological conditions in remission. One…
Many lawyers and claimants may not be familiar with the term, “somatic symptom disorder”, SSD, when used in personal injury cases. The diagnostic criteria are: 1. One or more somatic symptoms that are distressing; 2. Excessive concerns regarding one’s health which creates problems with anxiety over health concerns;and 3. Symptoms typically persist for more than six months.…
Compensation for psychological and psychiatric injury is recoverable in British Columbia for victims of personal injury. The Supreme Court has dealt with psychological and psychiatric factors that overwhelm the physical injuries in numerous personal injury cases. In Agar v. Leonard,2016 BCSC 1430 the court has awarded over $900,000 to the claimant, $110,000 for psychological pain and suffering. The…
Here are two British Columbia ICBC case examples to help understand how to value an award for pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life for children injured in a car accident suffering neck, shoulders and back injury, PTSD, and severe anxiety. $40,000.00 2014 BCSC 262 (B.C. S.C.)- The infant plaintiff,10 years old at the…
In a dramatic admission of medical illiteracy the Court of Appeal conceded that absent expert medical opinion evidence, a judge is not qualified to say what is, or is not, an illness (Saadati v. Moorhead,2015 BCCA 393). The trial judge refused to accept the claimant had suffered a brain injury but found that he had…
The Supreme Court of Canada awarded a man $30,000, $15,000 of which compensated for moral injury as a result of being forced to listen to the reciting of a prayer at a municipal council meeting (Mouvement laïque québécois v. Saguenay (City), 2015 SCC 16). The Court reinstated the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal award of $30,000 in compensatory…