Is a plaintiff entitled to double costs for failing to accept a settlement offer?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Meade v Armstrong (City), 2018 BCSC 528 (CanLII):

In Wafler v. Trinh, 2012 BCSC 1708, aff’d 2014 BCCA 95, a jury awarded the plaintiff significantly less than the amount of a settlement offer. Voith J. awarded the plaintiff his costs up to the date of an offer the plaintiff should have accepted and no costs after that point. One of the reasons Voith J. declined to award the defendant any costs, never mind double costs, was that the plaintiff was on disability and had been evicted from his home. Voith J. agreed there should be some consequence for the plaintiff’s failure to accept the defendant’s offer and considered requiring the plaintiff to bear his own costs after the date of the offer to be appropriate.

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