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By Dylana Kneeshaw

ICBC CHANGES

Trial Lawyers Association of BC concerned ICBC changes would leave drivers to fend for themselves in compensation claims

Feb 9, 2020 | 6:53 AM

VICTORIA — The Trial Lawyers Association of BC says the latest plan from the provincial government to save ICBC customers money could leave many British Columbians at risk.

Premier John Horgan and Attorney General David Eby announced on Thursday (Feb. 6) that the plan to bring some no-fault style policies to ICBC could save an average of $400 per driver. The BC Government also announced that there won’t be an increase to the basic insurance rate next year.

To get these savings, ICBC would now provide care for people seriously injured in a vehicle incident, and remove the need for people to hire a lawyer for an injury settlement. (According to the province, ICBC spends $1.3 billion on injury claims, $960 million goes towards legal costs, and $940 million is spent for pain and suffering payouts.)

The Ministry of the Attorney General says under the new system, ICBC’s main job would be to care for people who are injured, and hold the at-fault drivers accountable through premium increases.

If the legislation is passed, the new system would take effect May 1, 2021.

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Shawn Mitchell, CEO for the Trial Lawyers Association of BC says this was not the right direction to move in.

“The second that you take away people’s rights to retain a lawyer for the purposes of understanding their rights, and ensuring that they obtain that which is owed to them or they’re due, under any given circumstance, the minute you take that away you’ve gone backwards in time.”

The idea would be to have ICBC customers with legal disputes around fairness and benefits after a collision to work through the Civil Resolution Tribunal, the B.C. ombudsperson, along with the upcoming ICBC fairness officer (independent from ICBC).

While the BC Government has not been using the phrase ‘no-fault insurance’ to describe the change, Mitchell says that’s essentially what it is.

“Meaning that no one will be held directly responsible for the harm or damage that they cause another motorist on the road,” he says, “And what that means is neither party – particularly the party who is not at fault, can obtain compensation for additional damages for pain and suffering, additional damages for loss of earnings or lost opportunity, and so on.”

However, the Ministry of the Attorney General states that those who cause crashes will be held accountable and if they are at fault in a crash, their premiums would go up. And if the driver at fault is convicted of a Criminal Code offence, such as impaired driving, the injured person can still sue.

The standard benefits for those involved in a crash and working with a doctor would include things like massage therapy, chiropractic work, physiotherapy, along with prescriptions, dental, counseling, and other services. In addition to the $7.5 million in medical care, and recovery benefits, the Ministry says the injured party would be entitled to cash payments we all.

Two new benefits this brings is coverage for up to $20,000 if a year of school was missed due to injury, and $250,000 coverage for catastrophic injuries.

However, Mitchell says he’s concerned that the blanket coverage would bring problems for people with more serious injuries who don’t fall within the scope of automatic benefits.

Mitchell says he and other lawyers are concerned that the move essentially removes their ability to advocate for people when dealing with ICBC, and leaves the public on their own.

“The fact that we have a tort system in this province and the fact that we’ve had it with respect to motor vehicle accidents is something that is a strength of how we view the rights of British Columbians collectively and socially here in BC” he says, “And the government is basically downplaying what it is that they’re removing, and pretending like they’re not taking anything away at all.”

While the decision has been backed by the BC Government as a way to save residents money, Mitchell says if it sounds too good to be true, it likely is.

“What this is really doing is it is taking the problem, and it’s adding more bureaucracy,” claims Mitchell, “It’s making ICBC bigger, even as the government is saying they understand that no one can trust ICBC, and even as the government is saying it is supercharging its fairness office to look out for British Columbians from ICBC. It’s a very odd approach.”

The new system is modelled off the way insurers are run out of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, which had a zero per cent increase over five years, along with the latter province recently working towards decreasing insurance rates. As far as whether the plan is financially feasible in BC, Mitchell says it’s too early to say whether this will actually save people money.

“But what we do know out of the Manitoba / Saskatchewan experience is that costs do ultimately go up, the rates do change. It’s not as though this is suddenly going to make everything better,” he says, “And given that, why wouldn’t you instead focus on the structure that we have in place, let the program that you’ve got in place (run). They’ve only put a cap in, and it hasn’t even been for nine months and they’re already acknowledging that it’s not working. Why then should British Columbians have faith in some new scheme that’s being put in place?”

Mitchell adds that he and other legal experts feel that the public should do some digging into alternative points of view about the insurance changes before they come to conclusions about what will actually work well for them.