It is not enough for ICBC to simply plead a pre-existing condition in order to obtain a claimant’s medical history after a car accident. The obligation is still on the defendant, ICBC, to make the case in the evidence. Even with a prior auto accident, if the claimant recovered to normal function before the car accident in question, the records need not be disclosed to ICBC.
As Master Baker said in Anderson v. Kauhane , quoted in Master Bouck’s decision in Przybysz:
…there is a higher duty on a party requesting documents under…Rule 7-1(11)…they must satisfy either the party being demanded or the court…with an explanation “with reasonable specificity that indicates the reason why such additional documents or classes of documents should be disclosed”…
There are many situations where pre-accident MSP and PharmaNet printouts would contain information unrelated to the car accident injuries. Disclosure of the irrelevant medical history of the claimant would constitute an unwarranted breach of the plaintiff’s privacy. Starting a lawsuit does not require an injury claimant to disclose irrelevant personal details.(Hurley v. Baldo, 2016 BCSC 1605, Master R.W. McDiarmid )
Claimants without lawyers are now requested by ICBC to provide authorizations to release past medical and employment information. All that needs the be signed is the ICBC CL-22 accident benefit application. ICBC can obtain a short form report from your family doctor and certificate of earnings from your employer after you have made the claim.
ICBC can request a short medical report and certificate of earnings without the need for the claimant to sign authorizations to release all medical and earnings information.
If you have already signed authorizations to release all medical and earnings information for ICBC, watch our short video to learn more about what documents you can obtain from ICBC:
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