Author: ERIK MAGRAKEN

There have been a lot of terrible stories in recent weeks of pedestrians, cyclists and other road users suffering tragic injuries and even death at the hands of reckless motorists.  I will not link to any individual stories as I don’t want to use personal tragedy as a talking point.  Accept with a quick google news search you can verify this as fact.

Many of these victims are learning the hard reality that their rights to sue for compensation for their profound losses have been taken away.

The BC government stripped victims’ rights to sue careless and even reckless drivers for almost all crashes after May 1, 2021.  I’ve been fielding more calls than I like explaining this to people.  The BC Government conveniently left themselves a talking point pretending that if the at fault motorists actions amount to criminal behaviour victims can still sue.  However, this is at best a half truth.  Let’s break this down –

The BC no-fault scheme takes away victims rights to sue at fault drivers.  Section 116(2)(f) of the Insurance (Vehicle) Act then carves out an exception for criminal drivers.  So if you can prove that the driver that injured you was committing a crime at the time you can sue them right?  Nope.  It takes more than just that and its out of your hands.  Not only do they need to be committing a crime (from a very narrow ‘prescribed’ list) they need to be convicted of that crime.  This means that

• after a crash the police need to attend (remember the government passed a law saying police don’t have to attend most crashes)
• After gathering evidence the police must conclude that a prescribed criminal charge is warranted (the police have many options to charge motorists with provincial offences instead of criminal charges.  In fact the majority of the time when police conclude charges are warranted this is exactly what they do even for drunk and otherwise impaired drivers!)
• Crown counsel must then conclude that sufficient evidence exists to approve the prescribed Criminal charge
• No plea bargain to a lesser offence (such as a provincial offence which is how many of these cases end up being dealt with) can be reached
• Lastly a conviction must be secured for the prescribed offence

Unless the government gets all of the above steps right you are out of luck.  It does not matter if you are maimed.  It does not matter if a loved one died.  It does not matter if the at fault driver actually was committing a prescribed crime at the time and you can prove it.  Unless the government decides to do everything right and actually gets it right you simply do not have the right to sue the at fault motorist.

And if that’s not enough the government only allows victims in these very narrow circumstances the right to sue the at fault driver for “non-pecuniary damages and punitive, exemplary or other similar non-compensatory damages” instead of damages for all their actual losses.

Below is the very narrow list of ‘prescribed offences’ committed after December 18, 2018 that trigger a victim’s right to sue:

Schedule 10 – Prescribed Conditions

“motor vehicle related Criminal Code offence” means any of the following offences that an insured commits while operating or having care or control of a vehicle or by means of a vehicle:

(a)an offence under section 220 or 221 of the Criminal Code;

(b)an offence committed before December 18, 2018 under any of the following provisions of the Criminal Code:

(i)section 249;

(ii)section 252;

(iii)section 253 (1) (a);

(iii.1)section 254 (5);

(iv)section 255 (2);

(v)section 255 (3);

(vi)section 259 (4);

(c)an offence committed on or after December 18, 2018 under any of the following provisions of the Criminal Code:

(i)section 235;

(ii)section 236;

(iii)section 239 (1);

(iv)section 320.13 (1);

(v)section 320.13 (2);

(vi)section 320.13 (3);

(vii)section 320.14 (1) (a);

(viii)section 320.14 (1) (b);

(ix)section 320.14 (1) (c);

(x)section 320.14 (1) (d);

(xi)section 320.14 (2);

(xii)section 320.14 (3);

(xiii)section 320.15 (1);

(xix)section 320.15 (2);

(xx)section 320.15 (3);

(xxi)section 320.16 (1);

(xxii)section 320.16 (2);

(xxiii)section 320.16 (3);

(xxiv)section 320.18 (1).

If you are involved in a BC Crash ICBC, the Provincial monopoly insurer, will internally decide if you are at fault or not.

If they get it wrong and blame you for a crash you should not be responsible for it can cost you a lot.

Leaving aside things like paying for collision damages, deductibles and potentially expansive optional coverage which can amount to many thousands of dollars something as simple as basic ICBC coverage can skyrocket by the thousands after a single crash that ICBC blames you for.

ICBC uses a complicated formula to determine how much basic insurance rates cost based on various factors including driving experience and at fault claims history.  If ICBC finds you at fault for a crash premiums can increase by many dollars for many years.  For some drivers the ultimate bill, as demonstrated in the below charts, comes to over $8,000 in increased basic premiums.

If ICBC unfairly blames you for a crash understand these costs before you accept their decision.

If you are interested in challenging ICBC for a wrongful fault determination contact us and we can discuss your options.

Table 1: Premiums for 5-year driver

For a new driver with a CCP on their claim payment record in the first year, increased insurance premiums over the first ten-year period result in an additional $8,266.96. If premiums for a CCP increase after the first year it is reduced to $6,894.63.

Table 2: Premiums for a new driver with and without a CCP

Imagine having Covid-19.  Being told you have Covid-19.  Being told to self isolate and taking basic steps to protect others.  But not doing so and harming others.

You may be called a Covidiot.

You may be sued.

If you pass Covid-19 on to others.  If they die.  If they get ill.  If they have long term health harm.  If they have short term health harm.  Even if they don’t but they are forced to self isolate and then suffer harm from that, financial or otherwise.  You might be on the hook for damages.

The law in British Columbia is pretty simple.  Negligence.  Take reasonable care not to harm others.  If you fail in this duty you can be sued for all provable damages.  The law is nimble.  It adapts to Covid-19.  It adapts to Covidiots.

Don’t be a Covidiot.

We Sue Covid Spreaders ™

We Sue Covidiots™

Important reasons for judgment were published this week by the BC Court of Appeal finding class action waivers in a standard form customer contract are unconscionable and unenforceable.

In the recent case (Pearce v. 4 Pillars Consulting Group, Inc.) the Plaintiffs sued the various Defendants to recover fees paid for services in relation to debt restructuring. The Defendant’s standard form contract had a clause precluding participation in a class proceeding.  In finding the clause unenforceable and clearing the way for the suit to continue the BC Court of Appeal provided the following reasons:

$190,450,000.

Let me repeat that number.  $190,450,000,

There are an estimated $190,450,000 worth of active potential vehicle accelerated depreciation claims on ICBC’s books.  The insurer historically has paid out almost o% of these claims and is hoping to pay only a small fraction of these remaining claims with over 99% of British Columbians failing to exercise their rights.

When a not at fault driver has their vehicle damaged in a crash it is often worth less money once it has been repaired.  This lost value is called ‘accelerated depreciation’ and has been recognized for many years by BC Courts as a recoverable damage in an ICBC settlement.  A general rule in life is “you don’t get what you don’t ask for” and ICBC statistics show most British Columbia crash victims are unaware they can claim these damages before settling their claim.

Under ICBC’s internal criteria they calculate there are 58,600 active claims that may have accelerated depreciation.  The average value of the accelerated depreciation claims ICBC has paid to date is $3,250.  If you do the math that is nearly $200,000,000 in liability.  But of these 58,600 potential claimants only 0.2% of the individuals are actually pursuing their damages.  This will leave BC’s monopoly auto insurer with a windfall of unpaid claims if the remaining 99.8% of British Columbians don’t pursue their rights.

ICBC’s internal criteria for when they think an accelerated depreciation claim exists is as follows:

1. The vehicle owner claiming depreciation is not at fault for the crash.
2. Vehicle is five model years or newer at time of loss.
3. Vehicle damage must exceed $2,000.
4. No previous vehicle damage claim greater than $2,000.
5. Vehicle must be repairable (not a total loss).

The actual law of accelerated depreciation is far broader than ICBC’s own criteria.  That being said, if you are one of the 58,600 British Columbians with an active ICBC claim which arose before May 1, 2021 that meet the above criteria and want to know how to claim your accelerated depreciation contact me.   I welcome hearing from each and ever one of you!  These damages can be recovered and they can be recovered in cicrumcstancs far broader than ICBC tends to acknowledge in negotiations.  There are time limits for making these claims so don’t hesitate to contact me to learn your rights before the clock runs out.