ICBC’s Minor Injury Defense Fails to Stay Lawsuit

In this personal injury case, Ross v. Hammer, 2023 BCSC 2306  the defendants sought a stay on the injury claimant’s Supreme Court lawsuit until the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) determined whether the injuries from a motor vehicle accident were minor as per the Insurance (Vehicle) Act. The CRT’s jurisdiction over this matter, as outlined in…

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ICBC Denied Minor Injury Cap Defence

In this personal injury case the car accident occurred in February 2021. The plaintiff alleged severe and ongoing injuries affecting her ability to work as a registered nurse.(Wiggins v. Yokota 2023 BCSC 219) The ICBC lawyer originally on the case did not plead the Minor Injury cap as a defense. The new lawyer sought to…

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Compensation for Mental Injury Now Enshrined in Canadian Law

The Supreme Court of Canada has coined the phrase “mental injury” in a sweeping decision abolishing misguided prejudices over “psychological”, “emotional” or “psychiatric” injury claims in the law of tort. The requirement that an injury claimant suffer a medically recognized psychiatric or psychological illness or condition, as a bar to recover, has been eliminated. The ICBC injury claimant’s award of $100,000…

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$100,000 Psychological Injury Award Taken Away

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…

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ICBC Blanket Denials no Longer Acceptable to the Court

It is my experience as a lawyer representing car accident victims that ICBC and other insurance companies regularly deny all the facts alleged by an injury claimant in a lawsuit with little or no explanation. This type of response to a civil claim appears to no longer suffice as adequate pleadings in British Columbia.  In fact…

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