ICBC is Not Here for BC Drivers
by Jay on Aug 28, 2024
1 out of 5 stars
So had a collision (non-fault) resulting in a total loss claim. All ok during the initial reporting and notifications process and once acknowledged as non-fault a hire car was duly provided quickly. Fast forward a few days and the settlement offer comes through, not too bad really but a couple of bugbears and errors in the report so managed to get slightly more in the end. Again ok, except that you can tell they don't want to pay anything more than originally offered. Now at this point I ask, 'So how long have is the grace period for the hire car' to be told, Oh now you've had a settlement offer (not agreement or actually received the money) you have 3 days to return the car. Wow... one I haven't accepted this offer and two I don't have the money, how do I get a new vehicle and what do I do in the meantime? Apparently, that isn't their problem as I knew it was a total loss so should have been looking at cars already...hang on I haven't got the money so how do I get a new car? so I wasn't happy to have no car access with weekends away planned etc! Fast forward another week and I still haven't had the settlement check delivered and when I chased this up they said 'if it's still not there in a week call us again, but it has been issued'. Very very poor customer service and do not feel looked after at all. Would expect the hire car to be kept until at least the settlement money has been deposited in the bank. Also on the follow-up call, I was advised I could have had a direct transfer payment, something I was not even made aware of initially.
Provides courtesy car and repairs all damages in a timely manner.
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My pregnant wife was involved in a collision for which she was not at fault.
As you can imagine, rushing to the scene of an accident involving your spouse and unborn child is super stressful. As was the 12 hours we spent in emergency to ensure our baby was okay.
Little did I know that this was the beginning of months of undue stress caused by ICBC, their poor communication, misinformation, and attempts at every opportunity to make sure they cover and compensate for as little as possible.
Although the RCMP deemed my wife not at fault at the scene of the accident, it took ICBC almost 2 months to come to the same conclusion. After 6 weeks of being told that they had not received the police report, I called the RCMP and discovered no request for the report had been submitted.
I then provided the file number and contact information to my claims rep so they had everything they needed to request the report, it took them another 2 weeks to acquire and review this report.
I reported the accident to ICBC and during this call clarified my coverage and was notified that if we were deemed to not be liable, ICBC would reimburse our rental car expenses and our deductible would not be required to be paid. But, I would need to pay for the rental upfront as liability was undetermined.
Again, before securing a rental vehicle, I had another conversation with an ICBC rep to clarify and confirm this, right down to the type of vehicle they would cover the expenses for.
Flash forward 2 months, when we arrived to pick up our vehicle (responsibility still not determined) we were charged our deductible upon pickup. Not surprising.
What is surprising is the phone call I received this morning telling us they had finally determined my wife was not liable for the accident. Great news, or so I thought.
Despite this determination, and the promises made by 2 ICBC reps, they are denying the expense claims for the rental and attempting to push the deductible onto us.
Drivers beware. Even with full coverage you should expect to pay thousands out-of-pocket, not have your vehicle for months, and be constantly avoided in communications.
We highly recommend looking for private coverage to protect you from ICBC and their horrendous customer service.
Vehicle repaired, responsibility determined, and the time commitment, battle, and stress continues.
If we could leave zero stars we would.