Trial lawyers prep fight against ICBC claim caps
VICTORIA — B.C.’s trial lawyers are gearing up to challenge the provincial government’s new auto insurance reforms in court.
The Trial Lawyers Association of B.C., which includes vehicle injury lawyers whose business will be impacted by the changes, have zeroed in on two potential constitutional challenges to government legislation that will cap certain minor injury claims at $5,000 starting on April 1.
That comes as the Insurance Corp. of B.C. prepares to release its latest quarterly update Thursday on what Attorney-General David Eby said Wednesday is a worsening financial situation.
In a letter to members, obtained by Postmedia News, Trial Lawyers Association president Ron Nairne said his group has hired its own lawyer to prepare for legal challenges, “including in the Supreme Court of Canada, where we must be prepared to go, if necessary, to challenge the erosion of British Columbian’s rights.”
“We need to take our clients’ cases to the courtrooms en-masse — we need the judiciary and the public to see through courtroom results how unreasonable the new ICBC policy is,” he wrote.
“We need to wait, watch and listen for the expected horror stories that we anticipate to come from this new caps regime.”
The Insurance Corp. of B.C. will cap pain and suffering claims for minor injuries starting April 1, under legislation passed by the government last year. Eby said the caps are necessary to reduce extraordinary legal costs, rising claims and financial losses at ICBC that threaten to sharply increase rates. The trial lawyers say ICBC’s losses are being inflated for political purposes.
The new law will also direct disputes on all injuries claims valued below $50,000 out of courts and to a Civil Resolution Tribunal.
“In our view, the minor injury caps and CRT legislation is of questionable constitutional validity,” Nairne wrote.
Nairne said in an interview Wednesday that while lawyers are examining the scope, timing and potential content of a court challenge, they have yet to make a final decision on how to proceed.
“We’re at the preliminary stage, looking at this and considering our options,” he said. “Right now, it seems to us this legislation is a pretty profound attack on the rights of individuals.”
In the meantime, the trial lawyers are starting a new campaign to offer assistance to defence lawyers who challenge the civil resolution tribunal system. The tribunal’s first rulings on ICBC claims will “set the tone” for future decisions, Nairne said.
Eby said the campaign by the trial lawyers is one reason governments have for years been hesitant to reform ICBC. A similar fight between the NDP government and trial lawyers in the 1990s over no-fault insurance resulted in the government caving.
He said he is confident the legislation can withstand court challenges.