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ICBC sells teen's car from under him

http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/l...shColumbiaHome

Quote:

Updated: Sat Feb. 14 2009 18:59:52

ctvbc.ca

http://images.ctv.ca/archives/CTVNew...ter_090214.jpg

A Langley family is angry they're out a car and thousands of dollars in insurance after the Insurance Corporation of B.C. sold their car without their consent.

Brendan Lillies, 19, wanted to fix his 1992 Acura Integra after it was rear-ended -- but ICBC sold the car for scrap, and despite a four-month protracted dispute, still hasn't settled with the family.

"[A reasonable person] would go to the police and report the car stolen," said Brendan's dad, Charlie Lillies.

After being contacted by CTV News, ICBC apologized to the family.

"In this case we made an error," said ICBC's Adam Grossman. "We acknowledge it and we're doing everything we can to make that up with the customer."

In the accident, Brendan was hit from behind and then pushed into a car in front of him. The at-fault driver fled -- and ICBC assigned fault to Brendan.

ICBC said they would pay $2700 for the car, even though only days before Brendan had put in a new engine, rims and tires worth more than $3000. That, combined with the value of the car itself, should total more than $6000, said the Lillies.

That's when Brendan's dad Charlie decided the family would pay out the claim and just fix the car themselves.

"We asked for the vehicle back, and they said, 'Sorry, the vehicle's been sold. You can't get the car back,'" said Charlie.

Even though they didn't sign a salvage waiver -- the paperwork that transfers the ownership from Brendan to ICBC -- ICBC had already sold the car.

That was months ago -- but ICBC kept charging Brendan for his insurance premiums. When Brendan tried to get a refund for the premiums, his dad says a clerk demanded that he sign the salvage waiver after the fact.

"It's just a lesson," said Charlie. "Do your homework before you make a claim -- they're not going to do it for you. They'll take advantage of someone who's just a young guy."

When ICBC writes off a car they sell it to a salvage yard, who sell it for parts. The Lillies tracked down the Acura to a salvage lot in Surrey, where they found its engine had been stripped, its rims and tires were gone, and there wasn't much left.

"I'm a bit angry about it," said Brendan. "It's not like I can walk across the street to my neighbour's house, grab his keys, throw his truck on Craigslist and sell it."

ICBC has made a new offer on the car, but only increased their offer by $600. That's not enough, say the Lillies.

"We want the cost of a comparable car," said Charlie. "Branden's been without a vehicle for going on five months now. For us it's absolutely frustrating because he doesn't have the money to get another vehicle."

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jon Woodward

Adding a new engine and rims and tires won't increase the value of a car by $3000. :rolleyes:

its just the replacement costs. icbc should give 2700+ cost of engine + rims provided he has receipts for those! + refund his premium. that would be the right thing to do!

wow. major screwup by ICBC.

They should re-imburse 100% of the insurance paid by Brendan while the car was at ICBC, and they should reimburse him for the costs of the aftermarket parts that he should have been able to sell seperately if he got the car back, and also the value of the slightly damaged car.

edit: tiger beat me to it.

Wow. He got screwed over nicely.

hahahah it's a 1992 Integra it shouldn't be difficult for ICBC to source another one and give them back a working piece for less than $2700

that would show some gesture.

"In the accident, Brendan was hit from behind and then pushed into a car in front of him. The at-fault driver fled -- and ICBC assigned fault to Brendan. "

brutal. absolutely brutal.

poor guy
got rear-ended in a hit and run accident (who knows..maybe even whip-lash since his front got fucked too)
then probably spent all his pay cheque for new parts
then gets it all ripped away from ICBC

so the back of his car is hit and damaged but ICBC calls it his fault? idiots

icbc probably call him ramming the car in front of him as his fault...f*ck icbc turning a blind eye...especially if it was pretty evident

count on ICBC to to something like that..

it looks like ICBC is making a lot of mistakes lately...

ICBC will probably give him an even $3000 and call it even

those capitalist bastards

when i first saw this, i thought this could easily be one of many of us here on RS :(

this part still chaps me the most :flamemad: :

Quote:

Even though they didn't sign a salvage waiver -- the paperwork that transfers the ownership from Brendan to ICBC -- ICBC had already sold the car.

That was months ago -- but ICBC kept charging Brendan for his insurance premiums. When Brendan tried to get a refund for the premiums, his dad says a clerk demanded that he sign the salvage waiver after the fact.

fighting icbc in court... it could take years?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dai3yuen (Post 6281074)

Adding a new engine and rims and tires won't increase the value of a car by $3000. :rolleyes:

maybe its a k24 with 24" dubs

the cars at westwood auto wreckers

The adjuster likely suspected that the claimant wouldn't want the car back and thought he/she was being efficient by selling the car in advance. It amounts to theft by error.

What strikes me as more sinister is holding the entire reimbursement hostage, in the absence of a more reasonable offer, without signing a retroactive salvage waiver.

I also thought ICBC was required to refund prorated premium despite the existence of a claim. Perhaps the fact that the claim isn't settled is a factor. Still, given the circumstances, this just adds to the calamity of errors and injustice.

When you screw up this badly you need to make amends. Give the kid market value, plus the cost of his recent work. This would be a sign of good faith and, in light of the error(s), no further justification is required.

they should but you know as well as I do they will not. They need to make a profit BOTTOM LINE

Quote:

Originally Posted by aznboi128 (Post 6281340)

maybe its a k24 with 24" dubs

LOL that's what I was thinking too, minus the dubs..maybe some nice Volks or something haha

damn.. sometimes i wonder if it's even worth not buying the most basic insurance? I mean, ICBC might not even cover what's suppose to be covered..

why am i paying the extra for insurance when ICBC will probably screw me over when accidents happen...

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiger_handheld (Post 6281114)

its just the replacement costs. icbc should give 2700+ cost of engine + rims provided he has receipts for those! + refund his premium. that would be the right thing to do!

Why should he get the value of the engine?

If I have a $2,000 car, and the engine is worn out and I put in another engine, the car is still only worth $2,000. I doubt he put in a "brand new" engine - it was probably another used engine from a similar car. In fact, since he admits to paying $3,000 for the engine, wheels and tires this shows it wasn't some high-performance or "special" engine - it was just the going rate for a used engine from a wrecker to match his vehicle.

ICBC doesn't give out extra money if you happened to repair your car just before an accident. I see this all the time where someone drops $1,000 on a new brake job, then writes the car off. ICBC sure as hell won't give you back the $1,000 for the brakes. Therefore they shouldn't give the money back for the engine.

There's more to this regarding the rear-ender as well. If the at fault driver fled, then the driver of the first vehicle should have been a witness to this fact. It's only in cases of hit & run where there are no witnesses that the person getting hit is assigned fault, since there's no "evidence". It's easy for the first driver to know: did he hear a bang and then fell the impact, or did he feel the impact and then hear another bang.

But hey, it's fun to pick on ICBC cuz their the big bad suits out to fuck the little guy over. In my dealings with ICBC I see people getting what they deserve, and many more getting even more than they deserve. This guy is fucking whining over a mistake ICBC made on some PSO fucking junk car. This kinda stuff makes the news?