23 Dec Apportionment When Plaintiff at Fault in Second Accident

In Ploskon-Ciesla v. Brophy, 2020 BCSC 1873, the Plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle accident, without any negligence on her part.  A few years later she was injured in a second accident for which she was at-fault.

The court was asked to decide if there should be an apportionment of damages between the first accident and the second accident.

ICBC submitted that because the Plaintiff admitted fault in the second accident, the Negligence Act should apply to the assessment of damages for the first accident.  ICBC suggested that the judge assess the degree of fault between the two accidents and reduce the Plaintiff’s injury-caused damages by 50%.

The judge disagreed.  He held that although the second accident had to be taken into account when assessing damages, to ensure that the Defendant only paid compensation to the Plaintiff for the result of the first accident, the Negligence Act did not apply.