Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

ICBC review finds no support for concerns of cases needlessly taken to trial and unnecessarily generating increased legal costs


BC NDP government Attorney General, David Eby, has released the findings of a ministry review of ICBC’s claim settlement and litigation practices.

The review, which was conducted by ministry legal counsel in summer 2018, had the following goals:

... assessing ICBC’s bodily injury claim settlement, and litigation practices, from a litigation perspective

This included assessing whether ICBC policy, or practice, contributes to increasing injury settlement and litigation costs.

The review examined whether ICBC was responsible in any observable, systematic way, for making inappropriately low settlement offers.  Additionally, the review was charged with looking in to whether cases were being needlessly taken to trial and thereby unnecessarily generating legal costs.

The review found no support for these concerns.

The report did however recommend improvements in ICBC’s claims management, and found that the current legal framework (for resolving motor vehicle claims disputes) is unsustainable.

The review was conducted using aggregate data, as well as 100 randomly selected claims files which had been closed between 2013 and 2017. The files included those involving minor injury claims, as well as major or catastrophic injury claims.

The review also included files where claimants were both represented, and unrepresented, by legal counsel, as well as files where a lawsuit was filed and files where a lawsuit was not filed.

According to the government ICBC has, and will continue to, take steps that will address the operational recommendations contained in the report. Additionally, the Ministry of the Attorney General will address broader concerns through ongoing work to reform automobile insurance in British Columbia.

This review was conducted as part of the government’s ongoing efforts to reduce costs, complexity and delays in motor vehicle accident disputes and put ICBC on a path that makes the Crown corporation work for British Columbians again.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BC cannot regulate, redesign, and reinterpret its way to a stable forestry sector. Communities need clear rules, predictable timelines, and accountability for results.

Photo credit:  Atli Resources LP   BC’s Forestry Crisis Continues with Closure of Beaver Cove Chip Facility   As industry leaders, Indigenous partners, and contractors gather this week at the BC Natural Resources Forum in Prince George, the gap between government rhetoric and reality could not be clearer. Just hours after the Eby government once again touted reconciliation, certainty, and economic opportunity under DRIPA, Atli Chip Ltd, a company wholly owned by the ’Na̱mg̱is First Nation, announced it is managing the orderly closure of its Beaver Cove chip facility. The closure comes despite public tax dollars, repeated government announcements, and assurances that new policy frameworks would stabilize forestry employment and create long-term opportunity in rural and coastal British Columbia. “British Columbians are being told one story, while communities are living another,” said Ward Stamer, Critic for Forests. “This closure makes it clear that announcement...
Post a Comment
Read more

Stamer: Hope for Forestry Completely Shattered After Another Provincial Review Driven by DRIPA

IMAGE CREDIT:  Provincial Forestry Advisory Council Conservative Critic for Forests Ward Stamer says the final report from the Provincial Forestry Advisory Council confirms the worst fears of forestry workers and communities; instead of addressing the real issues driving mill closures and job losses, the NDP has produced a report that ignores industry realities and doubles down on governance restructuring. Despite years of warnings from forestry workers, contractors, and industry organizations about permitting delays, regulatory costs, fibre access, and the failure of BC Timber Sales, the PFAC report offers no urgency, no timelines, and no concrete action to stop the ongoing decline of the sector. “ This report completely shatters any remaining hope that the government is serious about saving forestry ,” said Stamer.  “ We didn’t need another study to tell us what industry has been saying for years. While mills close and workers lose their livelihoods, the NDP is focused on re...
Post a Comment
Read more

FORSETH – My question is, ‘How do we decide who is blue enough to be called a Conservative?’

How do we decide who’s blue enough to be a Conservative? AS OF TODAY (Friday January 30 th ), there are now eight individuals who have put their names forward to lead the Conservative Party of British Columbia. Having been involved with BC’s Conservatives since 2010, and having seen MANY ups and downs, having 8 people say “I want to lead the party” is to me, an incredible turn-around from the past. Sadly, however, it seems that our party cannot seem to shake what I, and others, call a purity test of ‘what is a Conservative’. And that seems to have already come to the forefront of the campaign by a couple of candidates. Let me just say as a Conservative Party of BC member, and as someone active in the party, that frustrates me to no end. Conservatives, more than any other political philosophy or belief, at least to me, seems to have the widest and broadest spectrum of ideals.   For the most part, they are anchored by these central thoughts --- smaller and less intru...
1 comment
Read more

Labels

Show more