Here are the top 4 mistakes to avoid when making an ICBC Injury Claim for your automobile accident.
Top 4 Mistakes
#1 – You agree with ICBC to an excessive reduction of your wage loss claim from gross to net
ICBC will often claim that they are entitled to reduce your income loss claim by 30% to arrive at a net figure. This deduction should usually be much less. WHY? The deduction depends on what tax bracket you would have otherwise fit into for that particular tax year. 30% is close to the highest tax bracket … Continue Reading
Mistake #2: You Do Not Get All The Treatments You Need
ICBC often stops funding treatments even though your family doctor supports further rehabilitation (massage, physiotherapy, chiropractor, active rehab etc.). For example, after the first 12 physiotherapy sessions, your doctor and physiotherapist support another round of 6-12 sessions. The handling ICBC adjuster denies ICBC coverage for the further sessions. The biggest mistake is that you stop attending physiotherapy because ICBC said so … Continue Reading
Mistake #3: After Your ICBC Accident, You Are Examined At Different Walk-In Clinics
Try to find a family doctor. The College of Physicians and Surgeon’s website maintains a list of clinics taking on new patients. If you can’t find one, then chose one doctor at a single walk-in clinic and only see that doctor for the life of your injury claim. Check to see which shifts that doctor works and work around his/her schedule … Continue Reading
Mistake #4: Your Doctor Does Not Examine You Regularly After Your Accident
It is extremely important that your doctor examine you fairly regularly during the initial period of significant pain, at least once per month (twice if possible). If a significant injury is later discovered ie. rotator cuff tears, disc bulges, labral tears etc, then it can become difficult to obtain medical opinions connecting those injuries to the incident. Your family doctor may not support the case if he/she feels they didn’t discover it earlier. There is a medical presumption that the pain would have been severe enough to seek medical attention, which on examination, would have been discovered … Continue Reading
Stay tuned for the remaining 6 mistakes that people commonly make when talking to ICBC regarding their injury claim.
Perminder Tung
Partner in Personal Injury
Lindsay Kenney LLP – Langley Office