Vancouver, British Columbia — One typically assumes there to be physical costs to being involved in a car accident, but as one British Columbia cyclist is learning, an unexpected financial burden is what truly adds insult to the injury.
Last summer, Ben Bolinger alleges that a car ran a stop sign and hit him as he was making his way through an intersection at West 7th Avenue and Willow Street in Vancouver.
“(The driver) contests that, and that’s his prerogative, but my bike was snapped in half and I was thrown probably 45 feet onto a bunch of rocks,” said Bolinger. “My helmet was decimated.
“My right arm was totally broken and I’ll never have full range of motion in that arm again. My foot was broken, they pulled about ten pieces of his windshield out of my back and that took close to 100 stitches and staples.”
But when Bolinger thought the extent of the accident’s aftermath would be limited to just his injuries, he was met with a bill in the mail for $3,752.01, from ICBC.
The accident took Bolinger out of work for four months, but he says ICBC only stepped up to help after he had already run out of sick days.
“But before ICBC would cover my wages, they made me exhaust every hour of sick time I have, every hour of vacation time, told me to apply for medical EI, and then said they would cover my wages up to 80 percent.”
A personal-injury and ICBC-claims lawyer suggested that this incident could be an example of the government insurer’s new no-fault claims model gone awry.
“Cyclists and pedestrians probably get the shortest end of the stick because they’re not paying for car insurance anyway, but drivers can pay less for car insurance now,” said Erik Magraken.
“All of the rights of pedestrians and cyclists have been taken away following a crash, as people such as Ben are learning in a very harsh lesson.”
The letter Bolinger received, dated March 18, cites the Insurance Vehicle Act, which gives ICBC the right to recover costs and reads in part: “Our customer has reported this crash, and as noted in our previous correspondence, you are responsible for any resulting damage or injury sustained by our insured.
“You were driving an uninsured vehicle at the time of the loss. This means you do not have insurance coverage for this loss and must repay the cost of our insured’s claim.”
The letter includes a deadline of April 2 for Bolinger to respond, before the incident is taken to ICBC’s account services department.
ICBC has yet to respond to media for a specific comment on Bolinger’s case, but issued the following statement:
“After a crash, our first priority is to ensure any party who is injured gets all of the care and recovery treatments they need, which any road user—including cyclists—are entitled to.
“We investigate every crash to determine who is responsible. In assessing any claim, we review all of the evidence presented to us in order to come to a fair decision. This would include reports from the drivers involved, witness statements and police reports if available.”
