What is the effect of a double cost award in a personal injury case?

A double costs award is a punitive measure against a litigant for that party’s failure, in all of the circumstances, to have accepted an offer to settle that should have been accepted. It serves as a reminder that costs rules are in place “to encourage the early settlement of disputes by rewarding the party who makes a reasonable settlement offer and penalizing the party who declines to accept such an offer”: Hartshorne v. Hartshorne, 2011 BCCA 29 at para. 25. In addition, the purpose of costs rules includes deterring frivolous actions or defences; encouraging conduct that reduces the duration and expense of litigation and discouraging litigation that has the opposite effect; encouraging litigants to settle wherever possible, thus freeing up judicial resources for other cases; and providing a “winnowing function in the litigation process” by requiring litigants to carefully assess the strengths and weaknesses of their cases at the outset and throughout the course of the litigation: Hartshorne at para. 25.