Injured in a Car Crash in BC: How ICBC Enhanced Care Works and When You Can Still Sue

If you were hurt in a crash in BC, the first legal question is the date. For crashes on or after 1 May 2021, ICBC's Enhanced Care model pays care and recovery benefits regardless of fault, and in most cases you cannot sue for compensation.

That changes what legal help looks like. For most people it means getting the benefits right and challenging decisions through ICBC and the Civil Resolution Tribunal. A lawsuit is still possible in a few narrow situations, and older crashes follow older rules.

How Enhanced Care changed injury claims

Enhanced Care is BC's care-based model of vehicle insurance. ICBC says any BC resident injured in a crash is entitled to care and recovery benefits no matter who was responsible, and the benefits extend to British Columbians injured in crashes elsewhere in Canada or in the United States. ICBC still decides who was at fault, but fault does not change the care you receive.

The trade-off is the right to sue. For crashes on or after 1 May 2021, ICBC states that it is no longer possible to sue for compensation except in limited circumstances. The Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) puts it the same way: in most cases you cannot make a claim against a person or organization for personal injury or vehicle damage.

What the benefits cover

The benefits are set out in Part 10 of the Insurance (Vehicle) Act and its regulations. Dollar limits are updated over time, so check current figures with ICBC. In broad terms, they include:

• Treatment. For the first 12 weeks after the crash you are pre-approved for a range of treatments, such as physiotherapy, massage therapy and chiropractic care. After that, ICBC works with your care team on further treatment.
• Income replacement. If your injuries keep you from working, ICBC may pay up to 90% of your net income, subject to a maximum. Employment Insurance benefits generally have to be used first, and injuries at work go to WorkSafeBC.
• Serious and permanent injuries. Catastrophic injuries can bring care for as long as it is medically needed, and permanent impairment can qualify for additional compensation.
• Death benefits. Families may receive death benefits, funeral expenses and grief counselling.

When you can still sue

The Act's limits on lawsuits come with a short list of exceptions. The one ICBC highlights is a crash where the at-fault driver is convicted of certain Criminal Code offences, impaired driving being ICBC's example. In that case you may be able to bring a civil claim against that person for certain damages. The qualifying offences are prescribed by regulation, which also covers comparable youth-court and United States convictions.

A few other narrow exceptions exist, and whether one applies depends on who was involved and how the injury happened. These claims often depend on a criminal case that takes time to finish, and court deadlines still apply, so get advice early rather than waiting for the outcome of the charge.

Disputing an ICBC benefits decision

Most disagreements under Enhanced Care are about benefits: treatment that is refused or cut off, or income replacement that is lower than you expected. ICBC describes these steps:

• Talk to the person handling your claim. Ask for the reasons and provide anything that may have been missed.
• Ask for a manager, then a Claims Decision Review. ICBC's guide says the outcome of a review is usually sent in writing within about a month. ICBC's Fair Practices Office can also look at decisions or processes you consider unfair.
• Apply to the Civil Resolution Tribunal. The CRT is independent of ICBC and has exclusive jurisdiction over disputes about entitlement to accident benefits. If the CRT changes a decision, ICBC adjusts its decision to match.

Time limits apply to CRT applications, and the CRT warns that it can take several months for an application to be reviewed and a dispute notice issued, so do not let a disagreement drift. Disputes about ICBC's fault assessment follow a separate route: once ICBC's Responsibility Review Team issues its detailed assessment (the CL722), ICBC says you have 90 days to file with the CRT. For how the CRT fits alongside the courts, see our guide to choosing between the CRT, Small Claims and Supreme Court.

Protecting your benefits claim

• Report promptly. The regulation requires you to notify ICBC of the crash promptly, and ICBC asks you to report as soon as it is safe to do so. Your claim number is what starts pre-approved treatment.
• Know the claim deadline. A benefits claim generally has to be made within two years of the crash. If an authorized health care provider first observes your symptoms later in that window, the period can run two years from that point. Different rules apply to children and to people unable to manage their own affairs.
• Keep every receipt. Expenses generally have to be claimed, with receipts, within 180 days.
• Keep a record. Save letters and emails from ICBC, notes of calls, treatment records and records of missed work. ICBC suggests checking in with the person handling your claim every two to three weeks.

Crashes before 1 May 2021

Crashes before Enhanced Care began fall under the earlier fault-based system, in which an injured person could usually sue the at-fault driver for damages, subject to the rules in force at the time. Benefit disputes from that period follow the older routes too: ICBC says accident benefit disputes for crashes before 1 April 2019 go to court rather than the CRT.

Time is now the main issue. The basic limitation period for most claims in BC is two years, so many adult claims from those years are already out of time. Different rules can apply to people who were under 19 at the time of the crash or who could not manage their own affairs; our guide to limitation periods in BC explains how they work. Do not assume a claim is lost, or that it is safe, without checking.

Hurt in a crash? Check which route applies before a deadline passes

Our litigation lawyers can review ICBC's decisions on your claim, explain whether an exception to the lawsuit limits may apply, and help you prepare a review request or a Civil Resolution Tribunal application.

Call 604-259-2844 or send us a message to arrange a consultation at our Vancouver office.