The limits on experts and expert reports introduced February 11, 2019 have been set aside by the Supreme Court. Orders under Rule 11-8 are also of no force or effect. The Supreme Court struck down these arbitrary limits on expert evidence (Crowder v. British Columbia (Attorney General), 2019 BCSC 1824).
Attorney General David Eby was found to be illegally limiting the rights of the injured. The rule was created to help remedy chronic ICBC financial mismanagement. However, the illegal expert rule only served to emasculate the court’s power and independence. This abuse of power by the NDP stifled the core powers of the Supreme Court.
Surprisingly, the Ministry of the Attorney General is responsible for the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, ICBC. Mr. Eby is our Attorney General.
ICBC- Auto Insurance Agent of Government
There was a secret email exchange on February 11, 2019, between the Attorney General’s office and ICBC just when the expert rules were released. Although not needed by the court, the exchange reveals the clear secret intention of ICBC to manipulate the expert rule to devalue existing claims. The ICBC representative said in her email,
We expect the savings from Rule of Court (sic) to be $400M for this fiscal year and about $30M going forward…About half due to fewer reports (40% from the Plaintiff reports plus 10% from Defence reports)…About half due to lower payments for damages – more expert reports make claims more expensive.
It is reprehensible that ICBC would treat the injured with such disdain and secretively try to manipulate the court rules to that end. With Mr. Eby at the helm, ICBC has forgotten the reason they were created. It is equally repugnant that Mr. Eby would proffer illegal rules to put insurance money in pockets of the NDP, through ICBC.
It is yet another financial blunder for ICBC. The fact that ICBC would rely on the implementation of illegal and unconstitutional rules shows a complete lack of judgment. ICBC appears to have been emboldened by the powers to devalue existing claims embodied in the impugned rules. Private insurance companies would never risk financial future on untested rules.
The arbitrary limit of three experts to aid ICBC financial woes was deemed unconstitutional. However, Mr. Eby’s street fight against the injured has not ended. His attempt to dumb down the courts has not worked. Perhaps now the NDP/ICBC coalition will stop their myopic abuse of power.
ICBC Withdraws Settlement Offers for 2019 Creating Another Financial Disaster