League and Williams Lawyers

Tag: insurance claims

  • In a car accident while at work? WorkSafeBC or ICBC? (Video Blog)

    In a car accident while at work? WorkSafeBC or ICBC? (Video Blog)

    Injured in a Car Accident While Working – ICBC or WorkSafeBC?

    If you’ve been injured in a motor vehicle accident while working, you are likely confused about what your options are, and whether you should be making a claim through ICBC or through WorkSafeBC (WCB).

    The starting point is this: if you are injured in a single vehicle accident while you were working (for example, your car has run off the road and struck a tree), or you are injured by another motorist who was also operating their vehicle as part of their work at the time of the accident, then you must claim through WCB. You cannot make a claim through ICBC.

    On the other hand, if you are injured in a motor vehicle accident while working, and the person who caused your injuries was not working at the time, then you can claim through either WCB or ICBC. That is, you have the option, or what lawyers call an election.

    So, the obvious question is, why would I choose an ICBC claim or a WCB claim, or vice versa?

    The benefit to making a claim through WCB is that WCB is intended to pay all of your rehabilitation expenses, and 90% of the wage loss you experience immediately after your accident.

    Notice I said intended. Many people become frustrated with the WCB process and they often do not receive the medical treatment they need because WCB terminates benefits, maintaining the condition pre-existed the accident, or the injuries have become permanent and therefore do not qualify as an ongoing claim.

    Seemingly endless reviews and appeals are not uncommon in WCB claims, and injured workers often simply give up on the process out of frustration.

    On the other hand, the benefits to making an ICBC claim as a worker who is not at fault for their injures, is that the worker will receive all of their medical expenses, and 100% of their wage loss, as well as additional monies for pain and suffering that WCB does not pay.

    These additional monies for pain and suffering can be thousands of dollars per month for each month the injury persists.

    However, this compensation must wait until your ICBC claim is fully resolved through either settlement or a court judgment.

    In other words, if you elect to go through ICBC when you could have made a WCB claim, ICBC does not have to pay you any wage loss or medical expenses until your claim is fully settled or heard by the court.

    On that note, it is important to appreciate two things, 98% of cases settle without going to court, and; some law firms, such as ours, pay for the medical expenses that ICBC does not until your claim is resolved.

    So, when it comes to electing between WCB or ICBC, what does all this mean?

    It means that the total compensation you will receive from making an ICBC claim will typically be far greater than making a WCB claim, but you will have to wait longer for that compensation.  That said, when recovering from any injury, being patient is always the best strategy.

    We hope you have learned something from this week’s blog.  Please feel free to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notice of our future weekly video blogs on the law.  League and Williams is a Victoria, BC based law firm with expertise in injury law, estate disputes and marine law and may be reached via email at info@leaguelaw.com or phone at 250-888-0002.  If you are injured and would like a free consult, give us a call for a free consult.  We are here to help injured parties get the fair compensation that they are entitled to.

  • How Being Represented by a Lawyer Protects Your Medical Records & Injury Claim (Video Blog)

    How Being Represented by a Lawyer Protects Your Medical Records & Injury Claim (Video Blog)

    Lawyers are not always needed, are they?

    Some people think its obvious why they don’t need a lawyer’s help after a car accident.  They weren’t at fault for the accident, so no one is blaming them.  The ICBC adjuster is being friendly and paying for some medical treatment, and perhaps even some lost wages.  The forms ICBC had them sign seem straight forward, and the adjuster and perhaps their doctor, are saying they should be recovered in a matter of weeks.

    Everything seems ok, right?

    Unfortunately, no, it often isn’t.

    Things are often not what them seem after a car accident.  There are several hidden and unexpected traps that unrepresented people do not discover until it is too late.

    Whiplash and Soft Tissue Injuries Sometimes Fail to Resolve as Quickly as Expected

    One common trap relates to the nature of whiplash and other soft tissue injuries, which are the most common type of injury suffered in a motor vehicle accident.  These injuries rarely resolve as quickly as ICBC, or even some doctors, think they should.  People are susceptible to injuries in different ways and in different degrees, and bodies heal differently.

    If your recovery isn’t “normal” according to ICBC, or if you do not recover as quickly as your ICBC adjuster expects or wants, you may suddenly be under suspicion for exaggerating or even faking your injuries.  This allegation, or even the innuendo, is often unfair, insulting, and always stressful.

    Unfortunately, this skepticism is occasionally held by some doctors, however, these are often doctors who have not had the personal experience of suffering similar soft tissues injuries themselves and may base their expectations of your recovery on textbooks or other more fortunate patients.

    Being Represented Means Protecting Your Medical Records

    Unfortunately, ICBC requires people who are not represented by a lawyer to give access to all of their medical records.  This happens when an unrepresented person signs a disclosure document provided to them by ICBC shortly after the accident. From that point on, ICBC has access to any and all medical records ever created about you.

    On the other hand, if you have a lawyer, you do not sign any ICBC disclosure document, and you and the lawyer decide what medical information is relevant to the ICBC claim.  Your lawyer’s job is to make sure that ICBC is getting the right information about your medical history and recovery, not simply what ICBC wants to see.  It is important to appreciate that ICBC will often ask for medical disclosure, saying it is necessary to approve funding for treatment to help you recover.  Indeed, helping you recover is ICBC’s obligation under your insurance benefits.

    Being Represented Means Protecting Your Injury Claim and Your Access to Treatment

    What ICBC typically does not tell you, however, is that the same adjuster that uses those records to approve funding for your treatment, also represents the other driver whose negligence may have injured you, and that same adjuster is using those records, as that other person’s insurer, to build a case against you for why your injuries are not from the accident.  This conflict is not apparent to many people until it is too late.

    Your lawyer’s job is to make sure that this conflict doesn’t compromise your right to ongoing reasonable medical care, and to ensure that you receive your fair compensation from the other driver’s insurance when you are recovered.

    Remember, when you have been injured by someone else’s neglect, standing up for your right to fair compensation is the right thing to do.  Fair is not fraud.

    We hope you have learned something from this week’s blog.  Please feel free to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notice of our future weekly video blogs on the law.  League and Williams is a Victoria, BC based law firm with expertise in injury law, estate disputes and marine law and may be reached via email at info@leaguelaw.com or phone at 250-888-0002.  We only work for injured plaintiff’s and are on your side, our goal is to help you recover as best as possible from your accident and to enable you to focus on getting better.

  • Liability Insurance Included in Renter’s and Homeowner’s Policies (Video Blog)

    Liability Insurance Included in Renter’s and Homeowner’s Policies (Video Blog)

    As a trial lawyer, I frequently see people that are at least surprised, if not financially devastated, because they failed to have proper insurance.  Liability insurance, also known as third-party liability insurance, protects you against being sued by another person for your mistakes.

    Imagine your dog biting someone, or your child injuring someone, bumping an elderly pedestrian who falls and injures themselves, or leaving your stove on and damaging your neighbour’s home. Without proper insurance, the consequences of momentary, common inattention can have ruinous financial consequences.

    Typical liability insurance policies provide $1,000,000 in coverage to pay for legal costs to defend you against lawsuits, and for money that may have to be paid to another person, usually an injured person, because of a settlement with them or a court judgment against you.  Liability insurance coverage for private individuals is typically part of their homeowners insurance.  Although policies differ, almost every homeowner’s insurance policy will provide $1,000,000 in coverage to the owners of the home, and the members of their family living in the home.  Most mortgages require that the home owner carry home owner’s insurance.

    This liability overage will typically exclude coverage for accidents arising out of the use of a vehicle, because that coverage is provided for by your auto insurer (in BC, this is ICBC with extended coverage provided by other insurers).  It will also exclude coverage for intentional acts, such as assault.  The coverage afforded protects you from claims for negligence, both on your property, and off your property.

    What many people do not know is that a renter’s insurance policy also provides liability coverage.  Depending on the part of the province, 20% to 40% of the BC population rent.  Many of these people do not carry renters insurance because most assume it only covers value of your belongings, and many renters do not believe their belongings justify the insurance.

    What most do not realize is that renters’ policies often provide the same $1,000,000 in liability protection that a homeowner’s policy does, and importantly, that the insurance is typically inexpensive.  A renter’s policy that insurers about $20,000 in personal belongings from loss due to fire, theft, or, for example, water damage, also provides $1,000,000 in liability coverage, and often only costs about $25 per month.

    Insurance is often not expensive.  Having a little knowledge about what is available and what it covers is critical.  There are many cases where people have been set back financially for years because they did not have insurance.  The cost for a month of insurance can be as low as the cost of your coffee for a week.

    We hope you have learned something from this week’s blog.  Please feel free to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notice of our future weekly video blogs on the law.  League and Williams is a Victoria, BC based law firm with expertise in injury law, estate disputes and marine law and may be reached via email at info@leaguelaw.com or phone at 250-888-0002.  If you are injured and would like a free consult, give us a call for a free consult.  We are here to help injured parties get the fair compensation that they are entitled to.