Vernon lawyer sounds off on proposed ICBC changes

A well-known Vernon lawyer is sounding off on the proposed changes to ICBC that were announced by the B.C. Government yesterday.

The sweeping changes, according to the province, would remove the majority of legal fees and other costs associated with the current litigation-based system and would instead instill what the province is calling a no-fault ‘care-based’ insurance system. The province touts that the switch would reduce ICBC premiums for drivers by 20 per cent.

Richard Barton is a personal injury lawyer with Davidson Lawyers. He calls the proposed changes blatantly only for the benefit of ICBC and the B.C government.

“What it looks like they are doing is they are going to give everyone a break on their ICBC insurance rates right before the next scheduled election. So it looks like a blatant attempt to buy votes and people’s ICBC rates may go down but that’s cold comfort to someone who has been injured in a car accident,” he said

Barton warns that the B.C government’s proposed plan for ICBC will come at the expense of British Columbians and their rights.

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“Their rights {B.C. drivers injured in car accidents} are going to be completely taken away if you are a person who’s injured in a motor vehicle accident by the fault of someone else. Previously you could sue the other driver and get compensation in the form of a lump sum, and as of May 2021 you are not going to be able to do that anymore unless it is for individuals who committed crimes such as drunk driving. Then you can still sue that individual,” he said.

The changes could also limit that amount reimbursed for disbursements which are hard costs incurred over the course of litigation that could include medical reports, clinical reports and engineering assessments required to prove liability. The proposed limit is $3,000 per report, with a total limit on all litigation disbursements of 5 per cent of the overall settlement or judgement.

“Limiting any expert report to $3000 seems completely unfair because if you want to hire a physical medicine or rehabilitation specialist, try finding one for $3000. They are all $4000, $4500, so the plaintiff would have to pay the difference,” Barton said, adding the changes would apply retroactively to claims that are still unsettled before the May 1 2021 implementation.

“I have files where we have paid over $3000 for reports and now they are saying ‘oh well too bad you are not going to be able to get that back’ and now that’s going to come out of my clients pockets. But if they {the government} want to hire an expert to defend the claim… they can pay $4000 to hire a doctor to say ‘no this person’s not injured or not as injured as badly as they claim,’ so it’s really creating an imbalance, in favor of ICBC.”

The NDP government previously promised during the election that a “no-fault” insurance system would not be brought in as a solution.

A letter written by NDP MLA Adrian Dix in 2017 to the BC Trial Lawyers Association said,

“We can do better. As John Horgan has said, the solution is not to take away or limit the legal rights of drivers as the Liberals seem ready to do after the election, but to restore ICBC to its non-profit status and listen to those that know best. That means “No to no fault,” Dix said in a Feb 21, 2017 letter to the Trial Lawyers Association of B.C.

According to Barton, clients involved in accidents, and lawyers like himself, have already been impacted by ICBC changes thus far, thanks to the NDP government imposing a $5500 cap on minor injuries in April 2019.

“Those include brain-injuries, major depression. Their definition of minor injuries is very misleading. It’s a much more expansive definition for minor injuries than Alberta where they have a similar cap system,” he said, noting the changes also mean minor injury cases go through an online tribunal as opposed to a judge court.

Barton foresees personal injury lawyers in the province taking an even larger hit if the NDP government’s proposal for ICBC gets the go-ahead.

“If these changes all go through there will be very few motor vehicle personal injury cases left,” he said adding many lawyers in the province may have to change their practice.

The B.C government has blamed expensive legal costs as a reason towards ICBC’s downfall, but Barton rebukes that and says the provincial government needs to take more responsibility.

“I think it’s well known that ICBC has been completely mismanaged by the government, giving their executives big bonuses while all of this is going on.” Barton said, noting there are many ways to cut costs to the system like reducing accidents on the road through higher penalties for distracted drivers, improving settlement positions so some cases don’t have to go to trial and raising deductibles for luxury vehicles.

“There are all kinds of things they could be looking at but instead they are blaming the lawyers for pursing fair settlements on behalf of injured British Columbians.”