Difference between revisions of "ICBC and Personal Injury Claims (12:XII)"

The Notice to Mediate is a new process by which any party to a motor vehicle action in Supreme Court may compel all other parties to the action to mediate the matters in dispute (''Notice to Mediate Regulation'', BC Reg 127/98, s 2 [''NMR'']). The Notice to Mediate process does not provide a blanket mechanism to compel parties into mediation. Rather, this process provides institutional support for mediation in the context of motor vehicle actions.

The party that wishes to initiate mediation delivers a Notice to Mediate to all other parties in the action no earlier than 60 days after the pleading period, and no later than 77 days before the date set for the start of the trial. Within 10 days after the Notice has been delivered to all parties, the parties must jointly agree upon and appoint a mediator (''NMR'', s 6). The mediation must occur within 60 days of the mediator’s appointment, unless all parties agree in writing to a later date (''NMR'', s 5). If one party fails to comply with a provision of the ''NMR'', any of the other parties may file a Declaration of Default with the court (''NMR'', s 11). If this occurs, the court has a wide range of powers, such as staying the action until the defaulting party attends mediation, or making such orders as to costs that the court considers appropriate.

The parties will share the cost of the mediator equally, unless the parties agree on some other cost sharing arrangement (''NMR'', s 9(2)(b)). The hourly rates of mediators vary, and this is a factor to be considered in selecting a mediator. The mediator will probably spend about one hour preparing for the mediation, and the mediation session will last about three hours.