Wrongdoing denied by ICBC, province in class-action suit
ICBC and the B.C. government are denying any wrongdoing in response to a proposed $900-million class-action lawsuit filed earlier this year.
In March, the lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court claimed that the Crown corporation responsible for motor vehicle insurance and the government had engaged in an illegal scheme to divert hundreds of millions of dollars, resulting in losses to accident victims and driving up insurance rates for B.C. drivers.
The suit argued that provincial laws make the government, through the Medical Services Plan — and not ICBC — responsible for paying the costs of visits to physicians by victims of motor vehicle accidents. But under an agreement reached in 1988, ICBC has instead for decades been reimbursing the government, through the MSP, for the services of medical practitioners payable as a result of ICBC claims, says the lawsuit.
The total amount of the remittances from 1988 to 2018 has been $899.7 million, with amounts before 1988 and after 2018 known only to the defendants, it says.
The writ claims that the effect for the government of receiving the remittances was to raid ICBC’S budget for its own benefit and, in doing so, increase ICBC’S operating costs.
It claims that the text behind the agreement has never been published.
But in court responses to the lawsuit, ICBC and the government say the agreement they reached was proper, lawful and in accordance with ICBC’S legal authority.
The ICBC response says that the agreement was disclosed to the public and was not concealed.
ICBC conducted its business in a manner that increased operating costs, it says.
“That complaint is political, not legal,” says the response, which notes that ICBC rates are set by the B.C. Utilities Commission.
The government’s response says that the agreement was made to further “legitimate” public policies.