What is the full assessment of damages for pre-accident losses?

The full assessment of damages for such losses may involve, at least to some extent, consideration of hypothetical situations and contingencies – what might have happened, or what might yet happen, had the accident not occurred, as distinct from what actually has happened. However, particularly where the claimed losses are derived from something other than a measurable, conventional income stream, the determination of a plaintiff’s prospective post-accident, pre-trial losses can involve considering many of the same contingencies as govern the assessment of a loss of future earning capacity . . . When considering hypotheticals and contingencies in the context of a pre-trial loss, the same general principles which govern the assessment of lost future earning capacity may be equally applicable . . . As stated by Rowles J.A. in Smith v. Knudsen, 2004 BCCA 613, at para. 29, “What would have happened in the past but for the injury is no more ‘knowable’ than what will happen in the future and therefore it is appropriate to assess the likelihood of hypothetical and future events rather than applying the balance of probabilities test that is applied with respect to past actual events.”