What You Need to Know About Interest on Disbursement on ICBC Claim Cases

In order to fight for your right to compensation with ICBC, lawyers must spend money on a variety of necessary services such as investigation, doctor’s reports, photocopies and court fees. These expenses are known as disbursements.

When you hire a lawyer for your ICBC car accident, you are typically charged an interest rate on these disbursements. This is to facilitate financing your case, as most law firms require a loan or a line of credit from a lending institution to operate their business.

Normally, ICBC will be forced to pay the interest charge because it is associated with the the advancement of a claimant’s case. However, many lawyers charge very high interest rates (ie. over 10-15% per year. As a result, ICBC will resist paying those charges when the case is concluded).

In the recent case of Phippen v. Hampton, the claimant was injured in a car accident and retained a law firm. Upon signing the fee agreement, she agreed to pay 15% on disbursements since the lawyer was using a financial lender to finance the personal injury claim. When the lawyer tried to get ICBC to pay for the interest charges, ICBC refused. The Supreme Court of British Columbia determined that 15% was unreasonable in the circumstances and substituted a lower rate.

In essence, the court confirmed that ICBC is not forced to pay interest that is too high, but only reasonable interest on disbursements. In practice, a reasonable rate is usually between 6-8%.

The decision is good news for all claimants. It confirms that the interest on disbursements must be paid for by ICBC, and sets a key precedent as to what is a reasonable rate. Lawyers that attempt to charge over 8% will likely be confronted with ICBC’s refusal to pay those charges when the claim is finished.

The end result is that the claimant may be stuck with paying the remainder of any interest that Court has deemed unreasonable. This seemingly small amount can add up, especially for cases of a lengthy duration.

A few percentage points of interest on disbursements can mean a client is left with a lower settlement at the end of the claim. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to interest charges on disbursements when you are thinking of hiring a lawyer.

ICBC Hired Doctor Biased Against Client Says Judge

Expert witnesses, such as doctors, who come to court to testify, do so in order to give evidence and opinion on complicated matters outside of the realm of the general knowledge of judges and juries.

The “Rules of Court” require that these witnesses give such evidence in a fair and balanced way and not advocate for either party, even if the expert was hired by one party to come to court on that party’s behalf.

In the recent case of Mattice v. Kirby, the Court found that a doctor retained by ICBC to give expert evidence crossed the line from expert to advocate.

In short, the doctor completed a cursory examination of the plaintiff and concluded he was not seriously injured and would likely recover with time. When ruling on the doctor’s expert evidence, the Court was quite critical:

[75] Dr. Keith Christian, an orthopaedic surgeon, provided an expert report for the defence and was also cross-examined at trial. Dr. Christian assessed Mr. Mattice on October 19, 2012 and issued a report the same day. Dr. Christian completed his interview and physical examination of Mr. Mattice in a total of twenty minutes, which included 16 minutes for the interview and four minutes for the physical examination. Dr. Christian did not disagree that his assessment of Mr. Mattice was very brief.

[76] During cross-examination, Dr. Christian was very argumentative and often arrogant. He stated that when asked previously by defence counsel whether he took notes of his meeting with Mr. Mattice, he advised that he did not take notes. At trial Dr. Christian admitted to having taken “scribbles”, which he said were illegible and which he destroyed after dictating his report on the day of the assessment. He said he had denied having taken notes as he had instead made “scribbles” and that no one had asked him if he had taken any “scribbles”. Since Dr. Christian admitted on cross-examination to having used his “scribbles” to dictate his report, there is little doubt in my mind that his “scribbles” were what any doctor would consider “notes” and that Dr. Christian was well aware that his “scribbles” constituted what anyone else would consider to be “notes”. His answers in this inquiry were most evasive and clearly showed a lack of willingness to be frank, open and honest with the Court.

[77] Dr. Christian’s interview and physical examination of Mr. Mattice were without question incomplete. On cross-examination, Dr. Christian admitted that he had not asked Mr. Mattice questions regarding, among many other things: the severity of the accidents of 2008 and 2009; any symptoms in his hands such as pain and “pins and needles”; whether symptoms, if there were any, were improving; bruising on Mr. Mattice’s elbow; the nature of his employment; the extent of the pain in his shoulder; and sleep problems. Dr. Christian also did not inquire about aspects of the accident that were relevant to the injuries claimed, such as Mr. Mattice’s body position in the 2009 accident and how he was impacted in the accident. In written submissions, counsel for Mr. Mattice listed 18 areas of legitimate inquiry that Dr. Christian could have pursued to provide a more informed and unbiased opinion; in my view, there were areas in addition to these 18 which Dr. Christian could have explored, but elected not to do so.

[82] In cross-examination Dr. Christian stated that there was no reason at the time for him to be having shoulder pain, that any fatigue being experienced by Mr. Mattice was “absolutely irrelevant”, that there was no reason for Mr. Mattice not to improve, and that there was no reason for Mr. Mattice to have a problem with his shoulder. He stated that, generally, in his opinion, Mr. Mattice should have been over any injuries from the 2009 accident long before the visit to Dr. Christian.

[83] In conclusion on Dr. Christian’s evidence and opinions, I have no hesitation in finding that his research was incomplete, that he was predisposed to a finding that Mr. Mattice’s injuries were either exaggerated or did not exist, and that by limiting his opinions to musculoskeletal injuries, he was not qualified to opine on the injuries which Mr. Mattice claimed to have suffered in the 2009 accident. As a result, I find the opinions and evidence of Dr. Christian to be of little or no probative value and I am left with the medical-legal opinions of the plaintiff’s expert and all other evidence to make a determination regarding Mr. Mattice’s injuries.

This case underscores the importance of remaining vigilant about the doctors ICBC often attempts to assign to our clients. We strive to oppose examinations involving doctors with a history of bias, and should a claim proceed to trial, we ensure that their bias is properly brought to the Court’s attention.

A Home-Maker Receives Compensation in Court for Loss of Capacity

A claimant may also be entitled to a court award for “diminished home-making capacity”, in addition to compensation for lost wages, pain and suffering, and treatment expenses.

This was the case in Savoie v. Williams, in which a Plaintiff suffered injuries to her back and neck in a motor vehicle accident. While her injuries caused her to miss a minimal amount of time from work, she struggled to perform her daily household activities following the incident.

ICBC insisted that there should be no award because there was no evidence that the Plaintiff was completely disabled from performing her household tasks.

The Court rejected ICBC’s argument, and awarded $20,000 under this particular head of damage, which follows:

[51] .…In this case, Ms. Savoie expended considerable energy, and took great pride, in maintaining her home and yard, in cooking, and in keeping vehicles clean…

[52] I agree with [ICBC] that Ms. Savoie can do some, perhaps a great deal, of what she could do before the accident. The fact remains that she is impaired in her ability to do those things she did previously without restriction. I find that as a result of the injuries she suffered in the accident that she is no longer the person described by her son as “super mom”…

[55] The plaintiff here led no evidence by which any of the household services can be valued, on either the replacement cost or opportunity cost approach… The plaintiff has not hired anyone to perform household tasks that she would have performed if not injured.

[56] I note that in Rezaei v. Piedade, the court accepted $15 per hour as a value of lost housekeeping capacity, partly because it had been used as a measure in earlier decisions, but also because it accorded with evidence in that case of what a witness paid for similar services..

[57] I find that Ms. Savoie was initially unable to perform some household tasks. I find that she has recovered some of her ability to do household tasks but with some difficulty and some adjustments to accommodate her changed physical abilities…

What this case shows is that an individual does not need to incur a monetary loss in the workplace in order to show a monetary loss at home.

It also indicates that the evidence from lay witnesses is a key component in proving a diminished home-making capacity claim. In this particular situation, the Plaintiff’s son was able to confirm the reduction in his mother’s ability to maintain the household post accident, which proved vital to the case.