ICBC contacting me after case closed =\
 

Seeking advise on behalf of my dad...


He got into an accident ICBC deemed him to be 25% responsible while the other party was 75%. The car was written off, cash paid out, and the case was closed. All this happened around late February, early March of 2012.

Recently, ICBC has been calling him about once a week requesting he provide a statement of what happened on the date of the accident. He told ICBC that he said everything that needed to be said and provided diagrams as well and he was not going to provide anymore statements since ICBC closed the statement. A couple of days ago, he received a letter from ICBC stating that the other party now has legal representation and a statement from my dad is needed to defend ICBC's actions (by actions i assume the 25/75 ). ICBC also took the liberty to take my dad's original statement and put into a letter format and requested my dad to sign it. He has not done it yet (he plans to ignore it..). The statement they provided is exactly the same as my dad on the date of the accident - not a word has been changed.

My questions are:
1) Why does ICBC need a new statement / signature when they closed the file? Should ICBC take it up with whatever evidence they used to levy the 25/75 judgement? If ICBC loses in court with the other party , the loss should be from their pockets -not my dads. As far as my dad - the case is closed.

2) Has anyone been in a similar situation? What happened?

3) Does my dad have a legal obligation to sign the statement? I personally think his legal obligation ended when the case was closed!

4) He does not want to hire an attorney unless he absolutely has to. So we are trying to find as much info as we can..


TL;DR
1) accident happened
2) OP's dad was 25% at fault , while other party was 75%
3) ICBC case closed - cash paid - car written off (March 2012)
4) ICBC wants to re-open case and get a statement of what happened because other party now has legal representation. (June/July 2012)

Better call Saul!

Who is Saul?

As far as I know, your dad doesn't have to worry anything from the legal perspective. When ICBC takes your dad's insurance policy on, they become the party that'll worry about all the legal stuff. Anything that needs to be settled is strictly between the other guy (and his lawyer) and ICBC. Your dad's role is exclusively that of an information provider, unless the other guys sues and wins enough damages that exceed your dad's liability insurance amount. If that were to happen, then your old man would be on the hook for any amount above and beyond ICBC's payout.

As such, there is really no harm in signing ICBC's letter since it simply re-iterates the exact same story that your dad has told. As a matter of fact, I see a bigger problem with you guys ignoring the letter altogether.

You could also call Bob Loblaw.


(No hablo espanol)

Or try googling the Bob Loblaw Law Blog.

what i was thinking word for word, this happened to my dad as well, after my dad got hit crossing a pedestrian walkway as a pedestrian by a motorcycle, the guy that hit him tried to fight the fact that it was not his fault 100 percent and that he was not going fast blah blah, icbc just had my dad come in as a witness, he also had to re-authorize his statement for some reason. You can choose not to participate with ICBC by not doing anything and accepting the consequences, or you can help out ICBC by giving your statement (again).

Your dad shouldn't be so paranoid... and he can easily just pick up the phone and call ICBC to talk to them about it... they work for him, he's paying them every year and have no reason to mislead him.

Basically the other party doesn't agree with ICBC's decision, so they are suing your dad... ICBC is trying to represent him... they will want him to go to their office in North Van and give his statement again and then they will prep him for a court date where he will be not very nicely examined by the other person's lawyer.

Yes I been through this before, someone hit me and was found 100% at fault and I got paid out for my car... but 3 years later I got a letter from ICBC saying the other party had a lawyer and was suing me saying it was my fault and I had to go through the whole shitshow again. Your dad doesn't need to hire a lawyer... ICBC employs lawyers to represet themselves and your Dad... that's what you pay for insurance for. They just need your Dad to help them out to fight the retard who is suing your Dad/ICBC.

It's in your dad's best interest to do something about it, unless he doesn't care if his insurance takes the hit of a big payout if the other party is trying to get the blame shifted.

Or call this guy. He's EXTREME TO THE MAX

is it legal for them to re-open when the case has been settled already?

yes.:)

Don't sweat it, you've received the proper advice already. Just jump through the hoops.

LOL at 25/75 ... seriously ICBC grasps sometimes at trying to hold both parties at fault sometimes. If ICBC ever tried to hold me 25% at fault I'd get a lawyer.

Either you're at fault or not. Perhaps in the case of a parking lot incident I can see a 50/50 on some occasions, but I'd love to see how they determined a 25/75.

Fault charts.

So just got served today with court papers. The other party is suing for 25k in injury =\

Going to ICBC with all the paperwork. I suggested to my dad that he go through with ICBC and after everything is said and done - counter sue the bitch for wasting time!

I love the mentality of some people. They're considered at fault (for the most part), yet they decide to sue the other party involved for injuries obtained in an accident they caused.

:rolleyes:

How bad was the accident, out of curiosity?

older model mpv was written off.

................

Have been in this situation. It was originally split 50/50, but I complained because I had right of way (other car was a left turner) and escalated my case so a manager could review it. Upon review, it was determined to be 75/25. Even though I still felt that it should have been 100/0, I did not bother since it would not affect my insurance. Some time down the road, the lady decided to sue me. ICBC sent a letter to contact some lawyer and when I contacted them, we set up an appointment for me to come in. After a couple of delays on the lawyers end, they told me that it was no longer necessary because the case was settled out of Court. I felt so disappointed because I was going to help ICBC win this case and verbally own the shit out of the lady in Court for being such a fucking dumb ass.

Anyways, I think your dad is being paranoid. I don't see why he can't sign a simple declaration. If ICBC loses, that's money out of everyone else pockets. You want some cunt who caused the accident to get money out of it?