ICBC says I don't need a lawyer

So ICBC has said: "you don’t need a lawyer" to help you with your personal injury claim. Initially it’s not a hard sell for ICBC, is it? Society has done a pretty good job of grooming you to not trust lawyers. In fact, if you Google “lawyer jokes” you will get over 3 million hits and plenty are aimed at personal injury lawyers, some of which I’ll admit are pretty funny. So, if you are like many people who haven’t been through the process before, you have faith in what the adjuster is saying and you provide ICBC with a detailed statement about the accident and sign all the papers they put in front of you, giving ICBC access to all your medical records and employment records without second thoughts.

However, as time goes by you may start to get frustrated. Perhaps they stop paying for your physiotherapy and massage treatments, even though you aren’t getting better. They switch adjusters on you and the new one is maybe not as pleasant or cooperative. They tell you there are some things in your medical records from a few years back they don’t like and now they want more information. They tell you they want you to see some doctor you’ve never heard of. They haven’t reimbursed you for some of the things they said they would. They make you an offer that seems like an insult but tells you that’s the best you are going to get. They threaten to close your file. But remember, ICBC says “you don’t need a lawyer.”

The word “need” is really an interesting choice. The reality is you don’t “need” a lawyer to pursue your personally injury claim any more than you “need” a hairdresser to cut your hair, a realtor to sell your house, a financial advisor to help you buy investments or a ski instructor to teach you how to ski. So do you “need” a lawyer? No, but in many cases, if not most, it is going to be in your best interest. Personal injury lawyers provide a service, just like the other service providers I have mentioned. For the same reasons you may hire a hairdresser to cut your hair, you hire a lawyer to help you with your claim. Sure you can cut your own hair (this might explain Donald Trump’s haircut), but unless you have some expertise in that area, you would probably prefer the end result with the help of a professional than if you do it yourself. The same is true for personal injury claims. Of course there are some exceptions and I will touch on those at the end.

In my opinion, a lawyer who specializes in personal injury claims provides you with an advantage that cannot be matched by pursuing a claim on your own. So, here are 12 reasons why I say you should hire a lawyer:

1. ICBC has a conflict of interest. If your accident involves another BC driver, ICBC acts as the insurer for the other driver as well as you. They cannot act in both of your best interests simultaneously;

2. a personal injury lawyer knows how to arrive at the real value of your claim, not what ICBC says it is and knows what evidence is required to best ensure that maximum value is recovered by you;

3. a personal injury lawyer knows how to deal with pre-existing injuries or illnesses and subsequent accidents that ICBC will often try to blame all your problems on and deny compensation as a result;

4. a personal injury lawyer will make efforts to preserve important evidence that you probably don’t even know you need and ICBC is not likely going to tell you. For example, if liability is in issue (in other words ICBC is debating who is at fault) or it is a hit and run situation, a personal injury lawyer can track down witnesses and collect the necessary evidence to ensure the best possible outcome;

5. a personal injury lawyer will not settle your claim prematurely (which means they will wait until all important information about the full extent of your injuries are known);

6. a personal injury lawyer can explain the difference between the law and ICBC Policy. ICBC often acts as though their policy (such as not paying settlements on low velocity impact claims) is the law when it is not;

7. a personal injury lawyer knows the limitation period for your claim and can ensure that the limitation period does not get missed. An insurance adjuster is not required to tell you the law and therefore cannot be sued for failing to do so. On the other hand a lawyer is specifically hired for that purpose and can be sued if they make a mistake;

8. if your injuries are going to have a permanent impact on your life (in other words you aren’t going to recover 100%), a personal injury lawyer can hire experts (often on an expedited basis), such as specialists, occupational therapists, and economists to help determine your diagnosis (if your family doctor hasn’t quite figured out your situation yet), make treatment recommendations, and properly figure out the value of your loss. Otherwise you will be stuck with whatever experts ICBC wants you to see and they aren’t likely to find in your favour;

9. a personal injury lawyer will ensure that you are applying for any additional insurance coverage that may affect your claim (Part 7 – Accident Benefits, EI, CPP, private insurance, etc.);

10. a personal injury lawyer will ensure that ICBC does not receive medical records or employment records that are not relevant to your claim. For more information on why giving a blanket authorization to insurance companies is a bad idea, see my previous article titled “What’s in Your Medical Records”;

11. a personal injury lawyer sees many client’s going through the same issues you are and therefore can often identify areas where you may need help (i.e. psychological counselling) and can make recommendations for how to get that help if wanted; and

12. a personal injury lawyer can provide you with peace of mind that you have obtained the best result for your situation.

 

Now, as I mentioned there are some exceptions to the rule. In my opinion if your claim meets all of the following criteria, you don’t “need” a lawyer, although it’s unlikely to hurt you if you would rather have the peace of mind of having one:

1. You have recovered from your accident in 6 months or less and you sustained no permanent impairments as a result of your injuries;

2. You sustained little or no wage loss as a result of the accident;

3. ICBC has accepted (in writing) that the other party is at fault for the accident;

4. Your accident is not classified as a low velocity impact claim (LVI);

5. You do not have any significant pre-existing or post-accident injuries or illnesses;

6. You have received a settlement offer from ICBC that you are content with; and

7. You are nowhere near the two year anniversary of your accident.

If your claim meets all of the foregoing criteria, there is not much risk in you settling your claim with ICBC directly. Will you get a “fair” settlement? It’s always hard to say, but injuries that heal in 6 months or less with no permanent impairment and little to no wage loss aren’t typically life altering such that you will suffer any long term consequences by settling with ICBC at possibly less than fair value. That being said, most personal injury lawyers don’t charge for an initial consult and therefore in my opinion, you have nothing to lose by meeting with a lawyer before deciding to settle your claim directly with ICBC.

Now, I often hear that personal injury lawyers are all about the money, they’re just looking out for their own best interests and they don’t really care about their clients. As with every profession there are some bad eggs that perpetuate the stereotypes. So yes, sadly I’m sure there are some lawyers that only care about the money just as there are some clients that fake or exaggerate their injuries for the sake of trying to get more money. The reality is that neither, in my experience are the norm and in fact I know many personal injury lawyers that will go above and beyond for their clients and in many cases losing money. If you want to know if the lawyer you are hiring actually cares about his or her clients, ask for references and meet with a few lawyers and judge for yourself. I expect you may be pleasantly surprised.

 

*Important Note: The information contained in this column should not be treated by readers as legal advice and should not be relied on without detailed legal counsel being sought.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.