Law applies retroactively to claims where disbursements were necessarily and reasonably incurred
The law limiting the disbursements that the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia pays to an injured claimant to 6 per cent of the settlement or trial judgment amount, regardless of the disbursement bill, is unfair, says a personal injury lawyer.
B.C. Reg. 31/2021 was approved and issued on Feb. 12, amending B.C. Reg. 210/2020, or the Expert Evidence Regulation. The New Democratic Party justified passage of the law as a cost-saving measure for the ICBC to be more profitable.
The new law discriminates against vulnerable individuals, including homemakers, retirees and those with pre-existing injuries, says Jaqueline Small, a partner who represents injured claimants involved with ICBC claims and other types of personal injury claims, at Holness and Small Law Group Professional Law Corporation.
With limited exceptions, the law applies to not only new claims but also retroactively to existing claims where disbursements were already necessarily and reasonably incurred before the new law’s enactment and at a time when they ordinarily would have been fully reimbursed by the ICBC, Small says.
“Most troubling is that the disbursement cap does not apply to ICBC or any other insurance company,” Small says.
Small stresses that injured plaintiffs have the burden of proving liability and quantum, primarily through expert evidence, such as reports from medical specialists from different...
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