BC Supreme Court Judge “Unable to Presume That ICBC Will Conduct Itself Honourably Moving Forward”
Pointed reasons for judgment released this week by the BC Supreme Court showed just how poorly ICBC fulfilled their obligations to an individual they insured despite making promises to the court that they will be fair. Madam Justice Murray noted she is “unable to presume that ICBC will conduct itself honourably moving forward“.
Here is the context. In the recent case (Taylor v. Peters) the Plaintiff suffered serious injuries in a 2017 crash. She was not at fault. Back then BC crash victims still enjoyed the right to sue for proper compensation. At trial the plaintiff was awarded $407,000 in total damages. ICBC, the insurer for the at fault driver, could deduct from the award any money the Plaintiff could receive from them directly as a Part 7 benefit. ICBC asked the court to reduce the award by over $141,000 arguing they “will irrevocably, unequivocally, and unconditionally agree to pay the plaintiff, for the items awarded by the court in the Cost of Future Care section in the Reasons for Judgment“. They filed an affidavit with the court making this promise.
Despite this promise ICBC time and again failed to pay the Plaintiff benefits the court found were needed as future care costs. ICBC’s own lawyer admitted to the court “that ICBC has failed to handle Ms. Taylor’s claim appropriately but submits that starting now they will do so“. The court had no time for this promise. Instead the court found that ICBC’s past actions were the best predictions of their future behavior and refused to give the Defendant/ICBC the substantial deduction from the award. In doing so Madam Justice Murray provided the following pointed comments: