After making a dial-a-claim report, ICBC will arrange a face-to-face meeting for you with an adjuster.
Contrary to what ICBC may tell you, you do not have to attend any meetings with ICBC, even if you have an injury claim. There is no question when you first meet with most adjusters, they are not only trying to find out generally about the claim but are trying to establish evidence which would minimize the amount of the ultimate payout to you. Hence, when you show up at the claim centre, the adjuster is getting full access to information from you which the adjuster hopes will reduce any amount ICBC has to pay to you at the end of the claim. If you do not show up to the meeting, the adjuster does not get that same advantage.
The biggest negative about not showing up to the ICBC adjuster meeting is that some adjusters personalize cases and may give you a more difficult time because you have not allowed them “open season” on your life.
In terms of getting an estimate for vehicle damage, you can either go into a claim centre and see an estimator or you can go to a private centre. There are a number of private repair shops that will do estimates for ICBC so you never have to step your foot inside an ICBC claim centre if you do not want to go there.
If there is an issue over who is at fault for the accident, again, you have no legal requirement to go in to see an adjuster. Rather, you can simply provide your own hand written statement to the adjuster, which can be used by the adjuster to assess liability.
If you have an injury claim, again, you can provide your own short handwritten statement to the adjuster about the accident and injuries. Then, you need to fill out an Accident Benefit Claim Form (CL-22) if you want to pursue your entitlement to disability and medical benefits, which are called Part VII benefits.
Overall, your only obligation is to provide a statutory statement to ICBC, which can be as little as providing your name, one sentence on the accident and a few words about injuries or even less for that matter. In other words, there is no obligation to provide any details in the statement. The rule of thumb is the less ICBC knows the better off you are.
The only time it’s advantageous to disclose information to ICBC is if it helps you advance your claim as opposed to giving ICBC ways of minimizing your claim.
If you decide that you do want to attend that initial meeting with the ICBC adjuster, be cautious. If you have an injury claim, there is no question that the adjuster will be pressing for as much information as possible. You have no obligation whatsoever to disclose anything to ICBC. If you don’t like the line of questions you do not have to answer them.
The ICBC adjusters are trained to obtain detailed statements, which can later be used against you in a lawsuit. The ICBC adjuster will cover off pre-accident health issues and if you do not disclose everything, you can be rest assured the ICBC lawyer or adjuster will be suggesting credibility issues later on because of the non-disclosure. Further, if you do not disclose fully all your injuries at the time of the statement, you may be accused later in the case of fabricating new injuries. In other words, the statement is a key piece of evidence that is used against you later in your lawsuit and that is why ICBC loves having you sit down and sign a long statement at that initial meeting.
If you are prepared to allow this statement taking exercise to happen, be very careful. Be as accurate as possible on the statement and provide full details on the issues covered. Do not sign a statement, which has errors in it because you may only be penalized later.
The other thing ICBC likes you to do is sign blank authorizations, which allow them access to anything they want, whether it be medical documents, wage loss documents or school records. It is strongly recommended that you do not sign blank authorizations but simply tell the adjuster that if a specific document is needed, the adjuster can send an authorization form at that time and you will consider each request individually. In other words, if ICBC wants to get records from the hospital where you attended after the accident, they can get you to sign an authorization directed only to that hospital for the period right after the accident and nothing more.
If you sign a blank authorization, you are almost guaranteed that ICBC will be ordering clinical records dating back many years before the accident. The adjuster will have a chance to check out a lot of personal information about you that is completely unrelated to any injury claim such as gynecological issues for females. That is why it is a bad idea to sign blank authorizations.
When filling out the Accident Benefit Claim Form (Cl-22), you are asked a number of questions including the type of injuries suffered. Make sure the form is complete because if you miss an injury, ICBC is going to point to this document later to say you may be fabricating a new injury.
If you wish to attend at the initial adjuster interview, keep in mind that the adjuster is probably trying to build ICBC’s defense case against you while at the same time leaving the impression that this interview is for your benefit. The adjusters are trained to minimize claims, if possible, and so the initial meeting will likely have a focus towards that purpose.