The First and Often Only ICBC Form to be Signed is the CL-22 Insurance Claim Application
When making a claim for ICBC insurance benefits after a motor vehicle accident, the Insurance Corporation of BC can require that you provide information in a prescribed form. Get a copy of the ICBC forms you need by speaking with one of our lawyers. These forms are part of legislation and once signed are used and kept by ICBC as part of the powers provided to the Corporation. Documents that are signed or initialed by the injury claimant take on a special status and may be used later to approve or deny injury benefits. Indeed what you sign and agree is true can be put into evidence at a personal injury trial if your ICBC case does not settle.
The Accident Claim Form( CL-22 ) is the principle ICBC form that requires the injury claimant’s signature. Other ICBC documentation will have to be completed and possibly signed if you are involved in a hit and run, uninsured motorist accident, under-insured motorist accident, or have a wrongful death claim. The CL-22 is a publicly available form and a personal injury lawyer can provide you with the most recent update copy of this form. Avoid using old forms that are no longer in the prescribed form when making your ICBC claim.
ICBC will often present claimants with a package of medical and employment authorizations and other forms to complete and sign. Avoid signing anything that is not required. Once ICBC gathers a claimants personal medical and employment information the documents and information stay in the ICBC data bank and can be used against you if you make a car accident claim in the future.
If ICBC asks you to sign more than an Accident Benefit Claim Form ask the adjuster to make the request in writing and before signing anything talk to an experienced personal injury lawyer. Failure to complete this Insurance Claim Application properly can destroy your case and the following ICBC Insurance Application Form Case (Job v. Van Blankers, 2009 BCSC 230) is a good example.
The claimant was stopped on Highway 91 at the red light at 72nd Avenue in Delta, British Columbia. While stopped the claimant was rear-ended. When endorsing the claim form she did not include her complaint of hip pain and here is what the Judge had to say about that:
[18] The claimant []was very defensive in cross-examination on the point of hip pain and an injury to her hip, explaining there was not enough room to include it in the small box on the CL-22 form and she did not pay careful attention to what she was including on the form as there was a large pile of documents she had to sign at the time…
[19] An examination of the CL-22 form, marked Exhibit #1 in the trial, reveals there would have been enough room to include a complaint about hip pain if indeed it was one of the symptoms. The claimant’s [] evidence on this point was entirely unsatisfactory, indeed argumentative, and I reject her explanation for not including it on the form. Moreover, I reject her complaint that hip pain was part of the injuries she sustained as a result of the accident.
If you are making an injury claim with ICBC you will also have to provide ICBC with a written report of the circumstances and consequences of the accident within the first 30 days, with exceptions. To find out more about what you should give to ICBC and deadlines watch our video about making an ICBC Claim.
Posted by Personal Injury Lawyer Mr. Renn A. Holness, B.A. LL.B – working for the injured, not ICBC or any other insurance company.
Lawyers, in my opinion, should be able to build solid arguments. Last week, my wife was involved in an automobile accident. I’ll have to check into getting her a lawyer.