Settling your injury claim

Summary

This page provides basic information to help you understand the injury settlement process.  When you are ready to settle your injury claim, simply contact your adjuster and ask to have your claim evaluated. 

In determining a fair settlement for you, your adjuster will consider the following:

• your medical reports from your health care advisors,
• the impacts the injuries had on your lifestyle,
• our history of similar settlement payments and
• court cases.

What's the process?

The following outlines the process you can expect to go through for settling your injury claim:

Stage 1: Your adjuster evaluates your claim

Your adjuster must first determine if you are entitled to settlement payments. If you are entitled, your adjuster considers all the facts of your case and your individual situation, calculates how much your settlement should be worth, and presents you with an offer. The most important information includes:

• How much you were earning prior to the crash.
• Whether you were unable to work afterward.
• Whether you had to spend money on expenses related to your injury.
• How much your injury kept you from being able to enjoy your regular activities.
• If the other driver was partly or totally at fault, you may be entitled to settlement payments, which may include past net wage loss and future wage loss payments. Find out more about settlement payments.

Review of contributing factors

Your adjuster also looks at other factors that may have contributed to your injury. Here are a few examples:

• Whether you were found partly or totally at fault for the crash.
• Available seatbelts were not used.
• A head rest was not properly adjusted to reduce the chance of injury in a crash.
• A motorcyclist or motorcycle passenger was not wearing a motorcycle safety helmet.
• A cyclist was not wearing a helmet, or not wearing it properly.

Soft tissue or whiplash injuries

Claims for soft tissue injuries are most common in situations where people have been occupants of a vehicle that has been struck from behind or rear-ended by another vehicle. These claims are a challenge as there are often no visible, objective sign of injury. It can be difficult to evaluate the extent of the injury and how much it can affect your ability to earn a living and your enjoyment of life. This is why medical documentation is particularly important in whiplash injuries.

Review of Low Velocity Impact (LVI) claims

If you were injured in a crash involving very low impact forces, your adjuster may classify your claim as a Low Velocity Impact, (LVI) claim. There are special procedures for these kinds of claims that may delay or disqualify your claim. If your adjuster tells you that your claim has been classified as an LVI claim, please make sure you clearly understand what this means.

Stage 2: Customer reviews settlement offer with adjuster

In negotiating a settlement with your adjuster you may want to research the settlements other people have received and consider how they compare to your situation.

Research injury cases on the internet

On the Internet, you can choose the button "Search JDB" on the B.C. Superior Courts and B.C. Provincial Courts for injury judgments.  When researching judgments, you should realize two things:

• It can take as long as two years or more before a motor vehicle case can go to court,
• When you see a judgment amount, you should realize that up to one-third of that amount may have been paid to a lawyer for contingency fees.

Research injury cases at legal and public libraries

You can research court judgments in publications such as B.C. Civil Decisions, B.C. Weekly Law Digest and Civil Decisions, published by the Continuing Legal Education Society of B.C. Other publications include Assessment of Personal Injury Damages, Personal Injury Damage Assessments in B.C. and Goldsmith's Damages for Personal Injury and Death in Canada. You may be able to find some of these publications at your local library; others may be available at courthouse libraries or through the Legal Services Society of B.C.  

Stage 3: Customer accepts adjuster's settlement offer

You may settle at any time. It is usually good to wait until your injuries have stabilized and you’re comfortably recovered. When you are ready to settle, make an appointment with your adjuster to discuss a settlement or any aspect of your claim. When you are offered a settlement, your adjuster will explain the factors of your offer.

Make sure you are satisfied with ICBC's offer before you sign the final release form. When you sign this form, you provide your final consent to the settlement, and release your rights to any further claim from that particular crash.

Stage 4: Receiving payment

In general, most customers who deal directly with ICBC receive payment immediately after signing a final release form. Other customers who are represented by lawyers may encounter delays due to litigation issues such as agreement on costs and disbursements.

If...	Then...
a lawyer does not represent you	You can usually expect to be paid immediately after you sign a final release. There may be some exceptions, but these are pretty rare. You have the option of signing in person, or we can send the release to you for your signature.
a lawyer represents you	Your lawyer will ask you to sign the final release form and will return it to ICBC on your behalf.  A cheque is then issued to your lawyer's law firm "in trust." The law firm then makes out a cheque payable to you, less the amount of fees and costs of disbursements owed to your lawyer.
you have a WorkSafeBC claim	You may be entitled to benefits from WorkSafeBC for lost income when you are unable to work because of a job-related injury. Job-related injuries can include those suffered in a crash, if you were working at the time of the crash. If you are eligible for WorkSafeBC benefits, you cannot also receive ICBC benefits except for that portion of ICBC benefits that exceeds the amount of the WorkSafeBC benefits. There is more information if you are unable to work at meeting at the claim centre. You can also learn more about WorkSafeBC . Speak with your adjuster to get more information. Issues involving WorkSafeBC and ICBC can be very complex. If you were injured during the course of your employment, WorkSafeBC may handle your case for medical and disability benefits and then claim Compensatory Damages from ICBC on your behalf. In those circumstances, when you settle your claim, a cheque is issued to WorkSafeBC "in trust." The board then makes out a cheque payable to you, less any amount to which it may be entitled to along with other applicable fees. Please speak to your WorkSafeBC adjudicator for more information.
the Public Trustee is acting on your behalf	you are under the age of 19 and wish to settle your claim with ICBC, the Public Guardian and Trustee of British Columbia (Public Guardian and Trustee) is required by the Infants Act to review the proposed settlement. For settlements of $50,000 or less, the Public Guardian and Trustee can approve or reject the offer on your behalf. If the settlement is over $50,000, there is a recommendation to Court. Once the Court approves the settlement, the funds are paid “in trust” to and held by the Public Guardian and Trustee until you reach age 21.
you are not satisfied with your ICBC settlement offer	you are not satisfied with the amount you've been offered we do provide several options to appeal that are worth reviewing.