What you need to know:

Pain & suffering

  • What are the trial procedures for injured claimants that prohibit the use of a jury?
  • The three procedures are as follows:

    Fast Track Litigation: This is an economical and speedy procedure for a Supreme Court judge to decide a relatively straightforward case that involves only a few lay and expert witnesses. The lawyers must agree that the entire trial, including witnesses' testimony and argument, can be heard within three days (12 hours) of court time. This procedure can give an injured person a great advantage in gaining fair damages from ICBC. The Supreme Court Rule governing this procedure is at:
    http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/LOC/freeside/
    --%20C%20/Court%20Rules%20Act%20RSBC%201996%20c.%2080/05_
    Regulations/19_168_2009%20Supreme%20Court%20Civil%20Rules/
    168_2009_02.xml#rule15-1

    Small Claims Court – Provincial Court of British Columbia: If your claim for damages is $25,000 or less, you may sue in Small Claims Court. This court is designed for claimants who do not have a lawyer, but it would be very wise for you to obtain a few hours of legal advice before suing in Small Claims Court. Most people find it a very frustrating procedure, even if they have consulted a lawyer from time to time. You may have to attend court several times or reschedule your witnesses to obtain sufficient court time over several half-days or less to have your trial.

    Provincial Court judges tend to be less generous in their awards for pain and suffering than do Supreme Court judges. Read some decisions and awards of Small Claims judges at its judgement database at:
    http://www.provincialcourt.bc.ca/judgmentdatabase/index.html

    You might want to type in the word "whiplash" and elect to read all judgements decided this year and then last year.

    On the positive side, a 'settlement conference procedure' before a Provincial Court Judge is built in to this procedure. It may help you obtain a fair settlement if ICBC willingly cooperates at the conference. ICBC doesn't usually willingly cooperate at a settlement conference in low-velocity accident cases. In those cases it has already decided not to compensate any damages—unless a court orders it to do so after a trial.

    The home page of the Provincial Court of British Columbia is at:
    http://www.provincialcourt.bc.ca/index.html

    The Small Claims Rules are at:
    http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/261_93_00b

    Summary Trial: This is when a Supreme Court judge decides a case based mainly on reading sworn witness statements (affidavits) and expert reports and by hearing arguments by lawyers. The judge may also decide to hear some live testimony such as the cross examination of a few experts. This procedure might apply to a fairly straight forward case, but it will not be used if there are major concerns about the credibility of the injured person or if there are substantial conflicts in the evidence of witnesses for the two sides. The Supreme Court Rule governing this procedure is at:
    http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/LOC/freeside/--%
    20C%20/Court%20Rules%20Act%20RSBC%201996%20c.%2080/05_Regulations/
    19_168_2009%20Supreme%20Court%20Civil%20Rules/168_2009_01.xml#rule9-7

    Each of these procedures has its advantages and disadvantages and each is most appropriate in certain situations. These are beyond the scope of this web site. You should obtain legal advice as to which procedure would be best for you.

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Pain and suffering I Pre-accident problems & elderly victims I Cost of treatment, care& assistance in the future I Compensation for family members of the injured person I Past loss of income I Loss of future earning capacity I TNT's recent successes in recovering damages

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