How have the courts applied SCCR 7-1(3) and (4) to motor vehicle accident claims?

The application of SCCR 7-1(3) and (4) to motor vehicle accident claims has been addressed in at least one case, starting with the trial judgment on costs: Meghji v. Lee, 2012 BCSC 116. In Meghji, the trial judge was asked to decide whether the plaintiff was entitled to an award of double costs pursuant to SCCR 9‑1(6). The trial judge had awarded damages to the plaintiff far in excess of the amount specified in an offer to settle. The judge concluded that the amount of the defendant’s automobile liability insurance limits is relevant to the considerations set out in SCCR 9‑1(6). Given that this issue arose post-trial, there was no rationale for an order that the defendant list any insurance policy in a list of documents. Rather than ordering production of particular documents, the court directed the defendant driver’s counsel to disclose the amount of his client’s “liability insurance limits operative at the time of the accident” to the other parties: para. 11.