Under ICBC’s $5500 “minor injuries” Cap, injured victims now have a worse chance of the insurance corporation treating them fairly. Last April, ICBC created its own list of devastating injuries and downgraded them from serious to minor. Apparently, medical experts were either not consulted or their opinion was ignored, since most agree these injuries are, in fact, very serious and chronic. These include TMJ (injury to the teeth or jaw), “mild” concussion (injury to the brain), persistent pain (chronic), and post-traumatic stress (psychological harm resulting from trauma). Once ICBC downgraded these injuries to “minor”, it placed a cap on them — $5500 being the absolute maximum for pain and suffering. Why the re-classification? To save ICBC money. Worse, the B.C. Government has removed all rights for injured victims to appeal these Cap decisions through our Courts. Instead, appeals can only be heard through ICBC’s Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT).
ICBC claims the CRT is fair and unbiased. Well, since April, 2019, this “independent” Tribunal has reportedly rejected 97% of all appeals, and they’re all final. Fair, unbiased and independent? You decide.
So if you’ve been injured in an accident since the Cap, what should you do? Well first off, you have a 2-year limitation date from the accident date to commence a legal action, so don’t be pressured by ICBC to settle. Very often, signs of serious injury aren’t apparent at the outset. They worsen after time. The accident may, in fact, have caused you serious injury that falls outside ICBC’s Cap. Beware. Once you’ve signed an ICBC settlement, there’s no going back.
This was the sad outcome of a recent CRT appeal:
CRT Denies Appeal of Accident Victim With Serious Injury
The Applicant had settled his claim with ICBC under the minor injuries Cap. Four months later, his symptoms flared, and eventually diagnosed with a serious disc bulge. Clearly, he had suffered very serious injury from the accident that hadn’t been apparent when he settled. He appealed to the CRT to set aside his ICBC settlement agreement and re-open his case. Denied. The CRT ruled that the settlement agreement does not need to state whether an injury is minor or not. As great as this unfairness may seem, the irony is even greater. The Applicant worked for ICBC as a Serious Claims Specialist. Yes, he was an Adjuster whose very job is to push accident victims to settle under ICBC’s Cap. It would be interesting to know, after having experienced first-hand the tragic result of settling too soon, how this Adjuster now deals with his naïve claimants.
Bottom line. Don’t ever settle with ICBC before learning your rights. We offer free consultation on all accident matters. Contact us. You have nothing to lose and may instead save yourself a lot of financial and emotional hardship.
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