Injured in a motor vehicle accident? ICBC may owe you compensation for retraining and tuition costs.

 

The Supreme Court of British Columbia recently awarded a plaintiff $5000 for future training on the grounds that there was a “reasonable likelihood” she would require it:

http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/SC/15/17/2015BCSC1740.htm

What made this award interesting was that the judge had also ruled that the plaintiff was “not, at this time, disabled in any meaningful way.” Additionally, this case dealt with a 48 year old plaintiff. Despite this, the judge did find that the Plaintiff would be disabled from some forms of work as a result of her motor vehicle accident. Accordingly, the plaintiff was given an award to allow her to seek employment in an alternate field.

This case illustrates how quantifying losses in a personal injury case can be a complicated process; it’s necessary to look at the plaintiff’s life as a whole, and subtle differences in lifestyle and history can lead to dramatically differing results. A good lawyer will help you to get the best settlement from ICBC possible by setting out an effective and evidence based argument. Judges need to be convinced that there is a “reasonable likelyhood” of an event, such as retraining, occurring. ICBC is unlikely to pay out a portion of a claim if they feel there is little risk of an award being made at a trial.

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *