My comments in this chapter are restricted to injury claims. I do not discuss claims for property damage such as your car or personal items damaged in a crash.
After a crash, either you or someone on your behalf must file a claim with ICBC. You can do this online or on the telephone. You can find the ICBC contact information at www.icbc.com/claims-repairs/. If you have a lawyer, he or she can file the claim for you. However, it is best that your claim be filed as soon as possible.
ICBC will contact you after filing your claim. You will be invited to meet with an adjuster (ICBC employee). You do not have to meet with the adjuster. The following are some guidelines for how to deal with ICBC depending on whether you plan on hiring a lawyer or not.
If you have a lawyer or are looking for a lawyer
If you are actively looking for a lawyer or have a lawyer, then don’t meet with an adjuster and don’t sign anything at all. All the formalities can be taken care of by your lawyer.
If you’re not sure about getting a lawyer
If you’re not sure about getting a lawyer or you’re taking your time making a decision, but you need treatment and/or lost wages right away, you don’t have to sign any authorizations releasing your information nor give a statement. I repeat, you do NOT have to sign any authorizations releasing your information to ICBC and you don’t have to give a statement. You will, however, have to fill out and sign an insurance benefits application called a CL22 (see below in this chapter about filling out the CL22 benefits application form). Note that at some point a statement must be given to ICBC. Wait to do this until you know whether you are hiring a lawyer. If you do, have the lawyer provide the statement.
Lost wages benefits
In order to get lost wages, ask the ICBC adjuster to provide you with a blank certificate of earnings (it’s an ICBC form). You or someone helping you will need to have your employer complete the certificate of earnings and then return it to your ICBC adjuster. A completed certificate of earnings should be good enough proof of your earnings.
Often ICBC will also want your family doctor to confirm your injuries. This can be done by a doctor’s note stating you need time off work and/or a CL19 medical report (see next section).
Medical treatment benefits
If you need medical treatment paid by ICBC and/or injury confirmation (for lost wages), then you can bring to your doctor, or have ICBC fax to your doctor a CL19 form which is an ICBC two page medical report form. You then visit your doctor who will examine you and complete the form. If your doctor confirms your injuries and confirms a particular course of treatment, then ICBC will set up an account with your treatment provider.
If you don’t need wage loss benefits or treatment paid by ICBC (in other words you have enough money to cover yourself for the time being), then you don’t have to bother with any of these forms and you absolutely should NOT sign any forms. Just because you don’t claim for lost wages or treatment payment right away does NOT mean you don’t get those funds down the road. Your wage loss and treatment costs form part of your overall claim.
If you’re reading this and you have signed a statement or authorizations for releasing information with ICBC, don’t worry about it. You can easily revoke any releases by writing your adjuster a note stating you revoke all releases signed by you (or your lawyer will revoke the releases). Any inaccuracies in your statement prepared by an adjuster can be revised.
CL22 – Considerations when filling out this ICBC benefits application form
If you want ICBC to pay you lost wages and/or treatment shortly after you file your claim, then you will most likely be asked to fill out a CL22 which is an ICBC benefits application form. If you are hiring a lawyer, your lawyer can fill this out. If you’re unsure about hiring a lawyer and you need benefits now, then you should fill out this form.
This form will ask you to list your injuries. In order to provide an accurate list of your injuries, do the following:
List your injuries and your symptoms: start from your head and go down to your toes. Consider medication effects. Ask yourself these questions:
a. What hurts? and
b. Consider emotional and psychological pain such as headaches, sleep difficulty, anxiety, depression, irritability, mood swings, etc.
If you need more space (on almost every CL22 I complete for clients I list the injuries on an attached sheet), then do so on a blank sheet of paper and attach it. You can call it “continuation of list of injuries from page 1 for [your name]”
The CL22 also asks about any private insurance you may have. You should make inquiries about whether you have private insurance. In chapter 5 I discuss possible sources for private insurance benefits.
One last consideration when filling out the CL22 has to do with your employment and earnings. Include all your employers and be precise about how much you earn as best as you can. If your earnings change from month to month, report the average over the course of a year, but state it’s an average and an approximation.
Be sure to keep a copy of the signed CL22 you give to ICBC.
If there is no way you are hiring a lawyer and you want to settle your claim on your own
If you are absolutely certain that you are not getting a lawyer, ICBC will likely not settle with you unless you sign releases for certain information. You will also have to sign a statement. I do not recommend you take this course.
If ICBC makes you an offer, I suggest that you run your settlement offer by a lawyer to make sure you’re not getting ripped off. Sometimes ICBC will make decent offers to people without lawyers. Other times an offer is too low.
If you settle with ICBC, be sure you’ve recovered from your injuries. Once you settle, it is very, very difficult (and rare) to have the settlement set aside.
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