Bus crash survivor to get insurance payment ahead of legal battle

An Ottawa woman suing the City of Ottawaafter her legs were crushed in last month's fatal double-decker bus crash is set to get a significant payoutfrom the city's insurance company.

Gwen Lambert wasone of 23 people injured Jan. 11 when her OC Transpo bus slammed into a Transitway shelter at Westboro station.

Three people also died in the crash.

"Her condition is still very challenging, and my understanding is that she may not be able to walk for about a year. But it's stillnot clear," said her lawyer, Derek Nicholson.

Nicholson's firm,BeamentHerbert Nicholson LLP, has filed a negligence lawsuitfor more than $6 millionagainst the city, OCTranspo, the bus driverand the province of Ontario.

• The first 24 hours after Ottawa's fatal bus crash
• ANALYSIS | Shattered lives, shattered faith

That amount is the"upper limit," Nicholson said, that would compensate Lambert who is still in hospital and is facing multiple surgeries, followed by lengthy rehabilitation for her potential lost income, future health care costs, and pain and suffering.

Nicholson would not say how much Lambert would receive in the interim from the city's insurance company, other than it was "tens of thousands of dollars."

Nicholsonsaid he'd forged a strong relationship with the lawyer for the city's insurance company after representing survivors of a 2013 collision between an OC Transpo bus and a Via Rail train in their own lawsuit.

• OC Transpo driver likely distracted by video monitor before deadly bus-train crash

The company's lawyer"volunteered" the possibility of an advance payment, said Nicholson an unusual offer in insurance industry negotiations.

"I don't think liability is being seriously contested," he said. "Obviously they haven'tadmitted it yet, but the advance is a credit to what my client will be entitled to eventually."

'Immediate assistance'

The city declined an interview Wednesday about the payment.

However, deputy solicitor David White said in an email that interim payments werebeing covered by the insurer to "provide immediate assistance to those seriously injured and their families,"rather than forcing them to first wait for thelitigation process to wrap up.

For now, only Lambert is receiving a payment, White said.The city's insurer was "reaching outto other seriously injured plaintiffs through their legal counsel," he added.

Nicholson said he was encouraged by thegesture, since one client he represented following the 2013crash waited three years to receive money.

He said Lambert was "grateful" to have received the payment, making it"one less thing" she had to be concernedabout.

"It's an unfortunate accident, and I think the city wants to help people," he said.

"It's a pretty terrifying time. I know my client is stuck in ahospital still, and worrying about money isn't something you want on top of that."