Victoria, British Columbia — Consistently in the crosshairs of critical British Columbians, the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) is in hot water again over its newly introduced no-fault insurance platform that has B.C. trial lawyers calling the model unconstitutional.
The B.C. Trial Lawyers Association successfully argued in court that ICBC’s platform, wherein claims are settled internally via a tribunal, is unconstitutional in that it denies the right of the individual to an impartial, federally-appointed judge.
“We think that the independence of our superior courts is an important feature of Canadian democracy and Canadians should not be quick to give up their right to access an independent judiciary,” said Kevin Gourlay of the B.C. Trial Lawyers Association.
The platform began its initial rollout in April of 2019 and has been subject to criticism for much of the time since.
A statement from the province’s attorney general, David Eby, promised that the government would be looking into changes for B.C.’s auto insurance platform, allowing “lower-value disputes” to be settled before the province’s Civil Resolution Tribunal and that none of the changes would affect future rebates to come from ICBC.
