ICBC Accident Reporting and Statements – ICBC Accident Report
It is your duty as a driver and in the law to immediately report a car accident that you were involved in to ICBC. What constituted “immediately” generally means within a day or two of the accident, if possible. It is also your duty and a term of your policy with ICBC to provide a statement within reasonable time detailing the accident. Typically this means that you need to give ICBC a signed statement.
Have an ICBC-related matter? Give us a call at 604-370-3050. For personal injury matters, you don’t have to pay anything unless we win.
Statements to ICBC
Particular care must be taken here. What you say to ICBC can be used against you, even at the reporting stage of your claim. If there is a way for ICBC to minimize compensation or coverage, they will identify it and rely on it. Where possible, ICBC will use information from the reporting stage of the accident to build a case for ICBC contract breach.
When you need a lawyer to deal with ICBC
ICBC is not in the business of paying money. It is an insurance company with a focus on the bottom line. If ICBC can collect the evidence to make a case that you are in breach of your insurance contract, you can expect them to deny you insurance coverage. This starts with the initial ICBC Accident Reporting.
Lawyer privilege can provide you with a great deal of protection throughout your dealings with ICBC. The safest option is to have your lawyer deal with the case from the beginning, including reporting the accident to ICBC. In most cases, however, clients will have reported the accident before we become involved. If you intend to report your accident, we suggest that you say no more than is necessary and only provide the basic information such as:
Who (drivers & cars)
When
Where
You can leave the HOW of the accident (i.e. the written statement) to us.
Protection for ICBC Accident Reporting
Just saying the wrong thing can result in ICBC assessing liability against you, or worse, not covering you altogether leaving you responsible for all damages and injuries claimed against you.
If you get in a car accident, it is important that you speak to lawyer first to ensure that your rights and interests are protected.
Give as a call and we can talk about the steps of ICBC Accident Reporting that will best protect you as ICBC processes the claim.