A civil claim has been launched challenging the “no-fault” Enhanced Care program of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC).
ICBC’s Enhanced Care is the care-based insurance model which launched on May 01, 2021. Under Enhanced Care, each driver’s policy will cover their own claim. All BC residents injured in a crash will be paid for medical care and treatments, and a no-fault basic vehicle damage coverage will pay for any costs drivers incur in the event of a collision – to the extent that the driver is not responsible for the crash. But at the same time, Enhanced Care brought an end to financial settlements and insurance legal proceedings.
For Tim Schober, a practising lawyer, the Enhanced Care system was not enough to cover his medical expenses after he suffered major injuries when a car made an illegal exit on a Victoria highway and crashed into his bicycle last August.
"By the time things settled down, I had a catastrophic spinal cord injury — a very high one that makes me a quadriplegic," Schober told CBC News.
Schober also said after he spent seven months recovering in a hospital, he had to pay $130,000 to renovate his home so that he could go around in a wheelchair. He no longer practices law, and currently needs 24-hour care from his wife Lisa.
Since the accident, Schober said that he has been waiting for the ICBC to determine how much of the costs he incurred would be covered by insurance, He also commented that the wage compensation he has been receiving does not match the level of pay he earned as a lawyer.
His experience has pushed him to serve as an advocate for crash victims who also have to deal with the ICBC.
"I thought of my colleagues that I met at the rehab hospital and many of them don't have the resources that I have," Schober said.
"And I'm thinking that they will be getting screwed by ICBC and they won't know it or have the ability to challenge it."
Schober is one of the plaintiffs in a civil claim launched July 04 which argues that the Enhanced Care rules are unconstitutional and go against the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The other plaintiff is the non-profit Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia (TLAB), which had opposed the no-fault insurance scheme before its implementation.
The lawsuit said that thanks to Enhanced Care, collision victims lost two basic protections: "the right to full and fair compensation for their injuries" and the "ability to go to a court of law to oppose the positions taken by ICBC." It also claimed that people who were left mentally or physically disabled after being involved in a crash are being denied "legal recognition of their pain and suffering," which goes against section 15 of the charter.
CBC News reached out to ICBC, and the insurer said that it had received notice of a constitutional challenge. The insurer also said in a statement that the insurance scheme "provides more affordable auto insurance with significantly improved care, recovery and income replacement benefits."
