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 reliable evidence and therefore are entitled to compensation for those expenses ( Amiel v. Ens, 2014 BCSC 2052).
The Court considered the proportionality provisions in Rule 1-3(2) of the Civil Rules. No other expert reports were commissioned. The plaintiff saw a physiatrist, attended physiotherapy and was treated by family physicians. Obtaining reports from two or three of those medical professionals would undoubtedly have cost several thousand dollars. the Court allowed the Consulting report as presented at $4,050.00, plus applicable taxes.
The Cost of Care report was ordered at the same time as the functional capacity evaluation, intended to be done in concert with that functional capacity evaluation. The functional capacity evaluation report made cost of care recommendations of therapies to assist the claimant in his recovery. The cost of care recommendations were based on the functional capacity evaluation which recommended assessment by a hand therapist. The Court found that the commission of a cost of future care report was reasonable and proper stating:
Again, counsel for the plaintiff had a duty to ensure that all areas of the plaintiff’s claim were supported with reliable evidence. The report may well have assisted the defendant in settling the case, given that its recommendations for cost of future care were modest. Those recommendations would not be known in advance.
Accordingly the amount charged was found to be reasonable in consideration of all of the circumstances, and the case expense for the reports were allowed in full.
Posted by Vancouver Personal Injury Lawyer Mr. Renn A. Holness, B.A. LL.B.
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