The value of your ICBC claim is based on what you have lost and the amount of damage you suffered as a result of your car accident. Your damages and losses are called damages.
Damages and losses form your claim from the time of your accident to the time you are expected to suffer each particular damage and loss. The following are the most common damages and losses:
- pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life;
- loss of past income;
- loss of the ability to generate income in the future;
- loss of opportunity;
- out-of-pocket expenses (special damages);
- cost of your future care; Y
- cost of help with your household and family responsibilities.
This is not a complete list, but rather sets forth typical damages and losses.
What are these damages and losses and how are they calculated?
1. Pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.
Pain and suffering includes all of your symptoms, pain, psychological problems, cognitive impairments, and emotional difficulties that were caused by or materially contributed to from your car accident). The loss of enjoyment of life is its limitations derived from its symptoms, pain, psychological problems and emotional difficulties. For example, if you suffered a whiplash injury, your pain and suffering is your neck pain and headaches and maybe back pain. Your resulting loss of enjoyment of life is all the things you cannot do or cannot do as well or as often as before the car accident.
The Supreme Court of Canada said in 1978 that money is awarded for pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life because “it will serve a useful function in making up for what has been lost in the only possible way, accepting that what has been lost cannot be replaced in any direct way (as of the court decision in Andrews v. Grand & Toy Alta. limited. [1978] 2 SRC 229.
In it Andrew case, the Supreme Court of Canada set a maximum on the amount of money that could be awarded for pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. In 1978 the cap was $100,000. As of December 2007, taking inflation into account, the maximum was $320,000.
Therefore, if you suffered X, Y, and Z injuries, the court will use previous cases of similar injuries as a guide in determining how much to award you. Since each injured person has unique circumstances, as well as similarities to previous cases, the court will also consider his or her circumstances when reaching an award of damages.
2. Loss of past income
For loss of income from auto accidents, the amount of income awarded by the courts is what an injured person’s after-tax income would have been. The injured person must prove the loss of income.
Currently, the tax deduction is calculated by adding up the total loss of income and then assessing it as if it had been earned at the time of judgment. Then the marginal tax rates of the previous tax year are applied. Consequently, if you were on leave for more than one year, the tax rate applied may be higher than if your income were split between the years you were on leave. However, if your income loss is not for a full year and you had other earnings, those other earnings are not added to the amount of income loss. This means that, in this scenario, your deduction for lost earnings may be a lower marginal rate than all your earnings for that year.
The only tax deduction available is the basic personal exemption.
3. Loss of the ability to generate income in the future
Damages are awarded for loss of future earning ability when there is a substantial possibility that injured individuals may have less future earning ability. Because this award is based on the future, there is no way to determine it with mathematical certainty. Therefore, courts determine it using a best-informed estimate based on medical, educational, and employment evidence.
Another short-term form of this loss is a loss on capital assets. The capital asset is the injured person’s ability to earn income. factors (of brown v. golaiy [1985 B.C.J. No. 31] that the Tribunal may consider when determining this loss are the following:
- if the injured person is generally less able to earn income from all types of employment;
- whether the injured person is less marketable or attractive as an employee to potential employers;
- whether the injured person has lost the ability to take advantage of all job opportunities that might otherwise have been open if he [or she] has not been injured; Y
- if the plaintiff is less valuable to himself [or herself] as a person capable of earning in a competitive labor market.
4. Loss of opportunity
In general, this loss falls within the loss of earning capacity described above. However, sometimes the circumstances in a case are such that the loss of an injured person is more accurately termed and considered a loss of opportunity. Typically, this loss is the loss of the opportunity to work or develop a particular vocation. An example from a case from British Columbia is that of a triathlete whose injuries prevented her from entering the “higher ranks” of professional triathletes (Bonhamv. blacksmith [1998] BCJ No. 98) para. 42).
To prove a missed opportunity, you must show a “reasonable chance of succeeding” (bonham para. 42).
5. Out-of-Pocket Expenses (Special Damages)
From the time of your car accident to the date it is settled, you will almost certainly spend some money in one way or another as a result of your accident. These out-of-pocket expenses are part of his claim as special damages.
To receive money for your out-of-pocket expenses, you must show that the money was spent and that it was reasonable to spend it. The following are expenses that may be part of your claim:
- transportation/mileage to medical visits;
- damage to the vehicle (if not already paid for);
- vehicle rental costs;
- medical and rehabilitation expenses (ie physical therapy, chiropractic, massage therapy, gym/pool memberships, etc.);
- additional hospital costs;
- dental expenses; Y
- cost for past help in your home and yard.
6. Cost of your future care
At some point, your claim will be resolved by settlement or trial, but you may still need treatment and care, such as rehabilitation, gym access, medications, equipment, and assistance, in the future. To successfully claim future care, you must show that there is a substantial possibility that you will need it.
7. Cost for future help with your household and family responsibility (also known as loss of cleaning ability).
If your injuries prevent you from doing some or all of what you used to and did in and around your home and for your family, then you can claim future assistance in and around your home. Once again, the proof of the proof is that your loss of cleaning ability is a substantial possibility.
At the beginning of this article, I said that you are entitled to the applicable damages listed above if you are not 100 percent at fault for your car accident. If you are zero percent at fault, then you receive all assessed damages. However, if you are found to be 40 percent at fault, once all damages are assessed based on the above applicable damages and losses, the court will reduce the amount by 40 percent (or whatever percentage you are found at fault). ).