The British Columbia government is set to appeal a ruling by the province’s Supreme Court voiding reforms of the Insurance Corporation of BC (ICBC) that were designed to move the litigation of minor injury claims from the courts to an administrative tribunal.
Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson ruled last week that sections of the Civil Resolution Tribunal Act were unconstitutional, which could nullify ICBC’s projected $390 million in savings resulting from the transfer of minor claims to a civil resolution tribunal, according to the Vancouver Sun.
Attorney General David Eby said that his office would appeal the decision, although they have yet to ask the courts for a stay of proceedings to allow the civil resolution tribunal to continue litigating minor accident claims, or those under $50,000.
Moving cases to the civil resolution tribunal was among the measures included in the ICBC’s reforms implemented on April 01, 2019 in a bid to recoup the $2 billion in losses the Crown corporation incurred between 2018 and 2019.
Eby told the Vancouver Sun that the court decision has no impact on ICBC’s pandemic rebate the drivers are set to receive this month or the expected 20% premium rate cuts when BC switches to a no-fault insurance model starting May 01.
The court loss is the government’s second on ICBC reforms. Hinkson also ruled that the government’s limits on expert witness at ICBC-related trials were unconstitutional as these violated the exclusive powers of a court to control its own processes.
