Court finds ICBC wronged young driver

A Kelowna judge says it is disturbing to see how ICBC stereotyped a client, pre-judged his situation and mis-understood the law in a bungled liability assessment.

In 2007, ICBC found 17-year-old new driver Eric Tough to be at fault after being involved in a collision.

On the evening of December 10, 2007, Tough was waiting to make a left turn from Springfield Road onto Spall Road.

The light turned red and as traffic slowed Tough proceeded to clear the intersection.

A truck and trailer failed to stop for the light and totalled Tough's car.

RCMP on scene found the driver of the truck and trailer to be the principle offender.

But an ICBC claims adjuster advised Tough, who had been driving for one month, that he was at least 50 per cent at fault because he was a young new driver and that "people turning left are always in the wrong."

When asked by Tough and his step father Bob Enns to look into the matter further, she told them the matter was a quasi-judicial process and she alone would decide the outcome.

Later, she provided them with a statement from a retired police officer and witness who claimed "Eric roared into the intersection into the path of the truck without stopping."

She then stated that Tough was 100 per cent liable and that his rates would increase by 75 per cent -- nearly $200 per month.

The prohibitive rates left him unable to afford owning a car.

Tough and Enns protested, and asked to appeal the process with the manager of the claims office.

The manager proceeded to provide them with an altered copy of the retired officer's statement which removed any suggestion that the truck driver may have been partly at fault.

She also insisted that the trailer had brakes, even though the driver of the truck told RCMP it did not.

When Tough and Enns pressed the issue, the manager told them the matter had been closed the day before their meeting and the decision to reject the appeal had been mailed the day before.

Nearly three years after the crash, on November 19, provincial court judge Anne Wallace overturned ICBC's decision, and placed 100 per cent of the fault with the driver of the truck and trailer.

"It is disturbing to hear how the insurance corporation dealt with Mr. Tough and Mr. Enns. It appears Mr. Tough was stereotyped before all the information of the claim had been received by the adjuster," says Wallace.

Wallace says it is true the courts see many reckless, young, male drivers, but Tough should not have been pre-judged.

She is concerned that an adjuster would claim to be the judge in a quasi-judicial process without acting objectively and judicially.

"I am sure neither the adjuster or manager would feel fairly judged if they came to this court and were told, after they pleaded their case, that the decision had been made the day before the hearing. This behaviour does not reflect well on the defendant corporation."

ICBC media relations Kathy Taylor says they take any comments from a provincial court judge very seriously and are examining the situation.

"We deal with close to one million claims a year and while we always try to make fair judgments for all of our customers, we will never have a 100 per cent record," says Taylor.

Tough was awarded $750 for the loss of his car and $176 in court costs.

"It's all about the money for ICBC and not about representing customers. Right from the start they pinned me up against the wall. They thought they could get away with it but they messed with the wrong people and we got them," says Tough.

Tough, who is back on the road with a clean driving record, says he has learned a few life lessons through the ordeal.

"Always be careful, don't put too much trust in other drivers on the road and don't trust ICBC."