Month: September 2020

“Minor Injury” Settlement Not Set Aside Following Subsequent Discovery of Disc Bulge

Written by ERIK MAGRAKEN on September 14, 2020. Posted in BC Civil Resolution Tribunal.

In what I believe is the first case of BC’s Civil Resolution Tribunal addressing ‘minor’ injuries under the ever changing ICBC legal landscape reasons for decision were published earlier this month refusing to set aside a ‘minor injury’ settlement after the discovery of a disc bulge.

In the recent case (Naqvi v. ICBC) the applicant was involved in a collision in May, 2019. His doctor diagnosed him as suffering injuries to the right shoulder, right upper back, and left lower back radiating to the left hip with an optimistic prognosis to make full recovery. Believing these were caught by the minor injury regulation the application settled his claim for $6,890 which included non-pecuniary damages at the capped amount for such injuries.

Subsequent to settlement the applicant discovered he had a disc bulge in his spine and argued this new diagnosed injury falls outside of the ‘minor injury’ definition and accordingly sought to set the settlement asise. The CRT refused to allow this arguing a binding settlement was reached that was “not grossly unfair or unconscionable“. In refusing to allow the settlement to be set aside tribunal Vice Chair Andrea Richie provided the following reasons:

Staged Collisions Leading to ICBC Payouts Lead to Civil Fraud Judgment

Written by ERIK MAGRAKEN on September 10, 2020. Posted in Uncategorized.

Reasons for judgement were published this week by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, finding numerous defendants were involved in several staged collisions.

In the recent case (ICBC v. Singh) several defendants were sued for fraud by ICBC to recover money the insurer paid out from the claims. Much of this was for vehicle damage claims and other various accident benefits. Injury claims were advanced by some of the parties as well but adjudication of those were put off until the determination of the fraud claims.

In total ICBC paid out over $83,000 plus additional legals costs related to the claims to date. In finding the collisions staged and ordering repayment of the damages Madam Justice Duncan provided the following reasons:

$9,076,854 Judgement For Plaintiff With Catastrophic Brain Injury Following Tractor Trailer Collision

Written by ERIK MAGRAKEN on September 4, 2020. Posted in ICBC Brain Injury Cases.

Reasons for judgement were published today by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, assessing damages at over $9 million for a Plaintiff who sustained life altering injuries following a tractor trailer collision.

In today’s case (Uy v. Dhillon) the Plaintiff’s vehicle was struck by a tractor trailer while driving on the Coquihalla highway in British Columbia’ interior. The Defendant denied fault but was found liable at trial with that finding being confirmed by the BC Court of Appeal.

This resulted in “a serious brain injury in the Accident that has resulted in a significant degree of cognitive impairment” for the Plaintiff. The brain injury rendered him totally unemployable with deficits so profound that he required “24-hour care and supervision for the rest of his life. “.

Upper limit non-pecuniary damages of $388,177 were awarded. The bulk of the judgement centered around the cost of 24 hour lifetime care which the Court assessed at over $7 million. In finding the injuries warranted non pecuniary damages at the rough upper limit Mr. Justice Skolrood provided the following reasons:

$65,000 Non Pecuniary Assessment for Fractured Collarbone and Anxiety

Written by ERIK MAGRAKEN on September 1, 2020. Posted in Uncategorized.

Reasons for judgement were published today by the BC Supreme Court, Vernon Registry, assessing damages for a fractured collarbone sustained in a collision.

In today’s case (Folk v. Folk) the Plaintiff was 5 years old and riding as a passenger in a vehicle involved in a collision which caused a fractured collarbone. This injury healed fully in 2 months. The Plaintiff also suffered anxiety for several years following the crash. The Plaintiff attributed various other symptoms to the crash but the Court found causation could not be established. In assessing non pecuniary damages at $65,000 for the collision related injuries Madam Justice Gropper provided the following reasons: