| 2010-07-09 |
| Deductions |
Appeal from post-damage award decisions. A jury awarded $488,500 in total damages against appelents as a result of injuries sustained by respondent after he was struck by appellants while on his bicycle. At a further hearing, the trial judge found that no deductions should be made from the special damages award of $48,500 for no-fault benefits paid to respondent prior to the post-verdict hearing. Apellents submitted that the judge erred in failing to deduct to no-fault benefits. They also contended that a $23,000 advance payment should have been deducted by the judge from pecuniary heads of loss, as opposed to non-pecuniary heads of loss.
HELD: Appeal allowed in part. The trial judge’s approach to the question of deductibility of the no-fault benefits paid from the award for special damages conformed to the facts of the case. There would have been an obvious injustice if a substantial amount of the $52,000 paid was deducted from the award of $48,500 because that would effectively result in a double deduction under s.25(1) and (2) of the Insurance Motor Vehicle Act (B.C.), which would have been as equally contrary to law and justice as double recovery. However, the advance payment of $23,000 should have been considered as applicable to pecuniary loss of the jury award.
Gasior v. Bayes, [2010] B.C.J. No. 1073, B.C.C.A., per Hall J.A. (Saunders and Bennett JJ.A. concurring), June 9/10. Digest No. 3010-010 (Approx. 9 pp.)
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