ICBC has been punished again for failing to accept a reasonable settlement offer. This offer coming from an innocent car accident victim that lost $85,000 just in past wages. The claimant offered to settle a car accident injury claim for $150,000, which ICBC rejected. The court said the injury claim was worth over $200,000, after 5 days in court. In punishing the ICBC insured in costs, the judge was quick to point out that:
“Accepting the plaintiff’s offer would have saved both parties the expense of trial, would have freed up judicial resources, and would have avoided the inconvenience and possibly the cost of having professional witnesses attend.”( ICBC pays more than settlement offer: Soltan v. Glasgow, 2020 BCSC 960 ).
Sadly, ICBC provided no reasons as to why the claimant’s settlement offer of $150,000 could not reasonably have been evaluated as within the range of probable outcomes given the documents the claimant had produced.
ICBC, the Insurance Corporation of BC, does not look out for the best interest of BC citizens as they continue to fight against legitimate injury claims. ICBC is supported by our Attorney General David Eby and the NDP government. Instead of the government looking out for our vulnerable citizens they have chosen to eliminate individual rights and support the ICBC monopoly in auto insurance. After May, 2021 Mr. Eby has allowed ICBC to get away with paying victims nothing, that is zero ($0.00), for pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. Credit Mr. David Eby with that idea.
Settlement of ICBC car crash cases can only proceed if the ICBC adjuster is being reasonable. How much an ICBC injury claim is worth is ultimately determined by the court if ICBC and the claimant cannot agree. For car accident after April 1, 2019 the NDP government has allowed ICBC to call serious injuries minor and these are determine by a government appointed tribunal. The NDP enacted legislation which eliminates the right of claimants to get fair and reasonable compensation. For car accidents after May, 2021 the NDP has allowed ICBC to completely deny any compensation for victim pain and suffering. This in effect condones the ongoing behaviour of ICBC which continued to attract punishment from our independent judges.
In the near future, lawyers will only be available to ICBC and rich claimants. Most lawyers will no longer be able to assist normal BC citizens or advocate in their best interest if ICBC is involved. ICBC has been given special treatment by our current NDP government. ICBC will continue to have teams of lawyers advocating for them. Judging from ICBC’s ongoing behaviour, we can expect a vigorous denial of even the mist legitimate injury claims as Mr. Eby’s NDP move to completely eliminate rights of the injured.