Evidence Act regulations have been made that will reduce the cost and complexity of lawsuits under the current auto insurance system.

The regulations place a limit on the amount recoverable from an unsuccessful party for disbursements related to motor vehicle personal injury litigation in Supreme Court, at 6% of the overall judgment or settlement. Disbursements include all expenses incurred for the purpose of a lawsuit, such as courier fees, process servers and photocopying. But the limit will not apply to disbursements for fees payable to the Crown, such as filing fees, court fees and jury fees. 

Legislative amendments were made to the Evidence Act in 2020. The amendments limit the number of experts and expert reports that can be used in court on the issue of damages in a vehicle injury case, while also providing judicial discretion to allow additional expert reports in appropriate cases. There is a limit of one expert and expert report for each party for fast track claims (e.g. claims under $100,000). A maximum of three experts and reports for each party have been set for all other claims. The parties can agree to use more experts without the need to file a formal application to the court. If agreement cannot be reached, the parties can apply to the court to allow additional reports.

There are approximately 105,000 open auto-insurance claims and the potential for more claims to be brought forward between now and when ICBC’s new insurance system, Enhanced Care coverage, takes effect May 1, 2021.

Quick Facts:

• This limit will apply to court cases where there wasn’t a notice of trial filed and served by Aug. 12, 2020, for a trial date before June 1, 2021.
• The court will have discretion to disapply the limit where a litigant filed and served a notice of trial before Aug. 12, 2020, for a trial date on or after June 1, 2021 and the litigant incurred expenses beyond the limit before Aug. 12, 2020.