The game that ICBC plays so well

What many people don’t realize is that ICBC adjustors receive extensive training in techniques designed to keep people from receiving fair compensation for their injuries.

First and foremost, ICBC adjustors want to keep people away from lawyers at all costs. They know that, once they hire a lawyer, the game is up. So they implement a campaign right from the outset designed to discourage people from hiring a lawyer. Their techniques include:

(a) telling people that lawyers will take all their money

(b) telling people that people who hire lawyers get less compensation than those who deal with ICBC directly

(c) offering to pay for treatment completely or to pay dollar for dollar for wage loss with the provision that they will only do so if the person stays away from lawyers

There is a reason why adjustors bend over backwards to discourage injured people from seeking legal advice or representation.   Without a lawyer advising the person on their rights and obligations, the adjustor can and will tell the person whatever they want, regardless of whether or not it is the whole truth. Most people have no idea of their rights and obligations in an ICBC claim.

When people deal with ICBC directly on claims, without the benefit of a lawyer, they are invariably shortchanged.   ICBC is not in the business of handing out money unless they are forced to do so.

If you have a relative, friend or co-worker who has been injured in a car accident, the best favour that you can do for him or her is to refer them for a free no obligation legal consultation so that they can learn their rights and obligations, essentially all of the things that ICBC doesn’t want them to know.