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ICBC Claims and UMP Arbitration Decisions
Most people that are injured in BC motor vehicle collisions have access to “Underinsured Motorist Protection Coverage” (”UMP” for short).  Vehicles licensed in BC must carry a minimum of $1 million in UMP coverage.  Some vehicles carry more UMP coverage than this.
In catastrophic injury claims it’s important to determine how much UMP Coverage is available as these claims can often exceed a Defendant’s policy limits.
Sections 148.1 - 148.4 of the Insurance (Vehicle) Regulation deal with UMP Claims.  When disputes arise as to the availability or the amount of UMP coverage the matter needs to be resolved through private arbitration as opposed to a public lawsuit.  One of the difficulties with arbitrations is that they result in private reasons for judgement making it difficult to access precedents.
This difficulty was addressed by a 2007 amendment which requires “An arbitrator who adjudicates a dispute under this section must publish the reasons for the decision by forwarding a copy of the reasons, with personal information that would identify the parties deleted, to the corporation for publication on its website”
If you’re looking for UMP Arbitration Decisions ICBC has been posting these online since 2007.  It would be useful if this database was expanded to include decisions from prior to 2007 as UMP cases do not arise frequently compared to judicially decided personal injury claims and many useful precedents exist that are not publicly available.  However, this database is a useful starting point when researching UMP related issues and I thought I would point out this resource for those who were unaware of it.
This site is created by MacIsaac & Company, a British Columbia Personal Injury Lawfirm. This website is not affiliated in any way with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC).This web site is made possible through funding provided by the British Columbia law firm MacIsaac and Company. bc-injury-law.com is designed to empower individuals to better understand their ICBC Claim and the process involved in dealing with ICBC. This web site is offered for information only and is not claim-specific legal advice. Use of the site and sending or receiving information through it does not establish a solicitor / client relationship. Links to and from this website do not state or imply a relationship between MacIsaac and Company and the linked entity.
July 25th, 2011 at 7:44 am
[…] As previously discussed, when catastrophic injuries are sustained through the fault of an under-insured motorist most British Columbians enjoy Underinsured Motorist Protection “UMP”. […]
November 10th, 2011 at 1:03 pm
[…] In cases where Defendants hold inadequate insurance examples can be found where legislatures have intervened to ensure victims can collect on their judgments.  For example, in BC, Section 20 of the Insurance (Vehicle) Act provides a pool of $200,000 of available compensation from ICBC for damages caused by uninsured motorists.  A further example is the requirement for BC motorists to purchase a minimum of one million dollars of under-insured motoris…. […]
November 30th, 2011 at 8:08 am
[…] Exam in the course of a personal injury lawsuit, Arbitrators determining Claimant entitlement to Underinsured Mototist Protection (”UMP”) Compensaiton have no such authority. Â This was determined in an UMP decision released last […]