ICBC is the auto monopoly defending most personal injury claims in British Columbia. In the last 6 years ICBC has refused to settle legitimate personal injury claims making very low offers, slogging through and clogging the courts. ICBC is causing intense aggravation of pain and suffering to victims of personal injury.
Some may be convinced the recent crisis within ICBC has to do with bad driving and fraudulent claims. However, not only has the national crash rate been steadily decreasing since 1994, statistically, there are 50% less serious personal injuries than there were 20 years ago.
Claims are worth a lot more than ICBC is offering, in most cases, resulting in prolonged litigation and the need for lawyers. It also means I have more reported cases to write about and review!
These cases are successful because ICBC has maintained unreasonable offers to settle with innocent victims of personal injury. Here are two recent examples of claimants who were unable to successfully settle their cases but did well at trial:
$130,000.00 Morena v. Dhillon,2014 BCSC 141
The injury claimant, age 47 at the time of trial , was injured when her stopped vehicle was struck from behind by a vehicle which had in turn been rear-ended. The plaintiff soon began to experience pain throughout her back and neck, as well as headaches and pain in her arms and legs. After the accident she got part-time position as a lunchtime supervisor, earning $18 per hour plus 16 percent in lieu of benefits. Judgment for claimant in the amount of $538,679. Although the claimant did see her doctor about tension headaches and anxiety before the accident, she had been largely symptom-free for 18 months before the accident even though all the other “stressors” of her life were active. The evidence established that she was injured in the accident and as a result developed the following injuries and conditions: (I) soft tissue injuries to the neck, shoulders, arms, lower back and legs with chronic residual sequelae; (ii) chronic sleep disruption; (iii) post-traumatic stress disorder; (iv) severe depression; and (v) heart palpitations. Now, she was likely to continue to suffer from pain, depression, PTSD, sleep disruption and potentially heart palpitations. Non-pecuniary damages would be assessed at $130,000, past income loss at $28,000, future loss of earning capacity at $300,000, cost of future care at $67,800, and special damages at $12,879. The future care award would include $10,000 for psychological counselling, $12,000 for medications, $5,000 for other recommended therapies, and $36,000 for housekeeping services, for which the plaintiff would not have paid but for her injuries.
$150,000.00 Redmond v. Krider, 2015 BCSC 178
The claimant was awarded $150,000 for pain and suffering four years after the car accident. Her injuries included soft tissue injuries, mechanical low back pain, left hip and buttock pain, sacroiliac strain, a flare-up of fibromyalgia, cervicogenic headaches and an adjustment disorder with depressive symptoms and anxiety including persistent moderate somatic symptom disorder (chronic pain) and reduced cognitive ability. The claimant made extensive efforts to recover and continued to work despite ongoing significant pain. She continued to suffer from ongoing anxiety and depressive symptoms and remained susceptible to another major depression.
Not all claimants are successful at trial, learn more about how judges make decisions in personal injury cases:
Posted by Vancouver Personal Injury Lawyer Mr. Renn A. Holness, B.A. LL.B.- All these cases were won by competent personal injury lawyers working on behalf of claimants. Always get a free legal consult from a lawyer before you settle with ICBC.