42 — Wednesday, February 25, 1997 — North Shore News

By Donald Jabour
Contributing Writer
EVERYBODY hates
lasvyers.

Especially ICBC. It
blames lawyers for the soar-
ing costs of insurance claims,
and therefore concludes that
no-fault insurance is the
answer.
ICBC has wanted no-fault
for years — even before the
current so-called “crisis.”
Why? Because it would
get lawyers or. of the way
and give ICBC a free hand at
settling cialis on ICBC’
own terms. Big Brother
would know bes:.
But for years 8.0."s gov-
ernment-owned motor vehi-
cle system worked well. li
was brought in when the pri-
vate insurance industry’s
adjusting practices were a dis-
grace. There was wide public
outcry for reform, and
reform is just what ICBC did.
It eliminated discriminato-
ry underwriting practices,
provided innovative cover-
ages, and humanized the
adjusting process — at least
for a while.
Then ICBC began to
believe it knew more about
justice than the courts and"
began to resent the fact that
. their opinions as to what an
- injury was worth were regu-

larly overturned by the
“courts. —

Damn those lawyers. If
they weren’t around ICBC

. could bé insurance company,
adjuster, judge and jury.

- So ICBC set out to create
-a “need” for no-fault. It cries
_ the blues about rising claims

and premiums and, as advised
by its own internal report of
1993, it bashes the lawyers.

: TONS B

But there is no crisis. And
lawyers aren’t solely to blame
for rising cests. ICBC’s cam-
paign is based upon misinfor-
matica, if not lies. -

In 1993, 1994 and 1995
ICBC had net profits of $157
million, $241 million and
$62 million respectively. Ir
has reserves of $4.5 biSon
(up from $2.7 billion in
1991). Its net ecuity has
grown from $5 million in
1992 to $364 million in
1995.

Insurance rates in
Vancouver are today cheaper
than they are in Calgary,
Toronto and Montreal.

ICBC said it lost $70 mil-
lion in the first quarter last
year. Well, they do every first
quarter, because that follows
the winter season.

There is no doubt that
claims are up and so is the
cost of settling claims. Has
anybody thought that maybe
victims are finally getting
what they deserve for their
injuries? Is ICBC saying it’s
the victims’ fault insurance
costs are going up?

In its recent $330,000 ad
campaign to sell no-faule,
ICBC touts the recent
KPMG report.

This report also displays

SAUTYREST = SIATMONS*

" SIMMONS BEAUTYREST

flawed reasoning and blatant
misstatements.

We've all seen ICBC's ads
that say “We're paying out
more in legal fees than we are
to the doctors who make
people well.” Get the mes-
sage? Docturs are good guys,
lawyers are useless. Why do
we need them?

Well maybe it's because
ICBC doesn’t deal fairly with
claimants in the first place. ft
belictles their ailments, it
doubts their truthfulness, it
cuts off their benefits and
makes them unreasonably low
offers >f settlement.

Speak to someone who
has been a victim. How were
they treated by ICBC? Why
did they need to get a lawyer?

ICBC also says in a sum-
marv cf the KPMG report:
“In 1995 the total direct
costs ef the legal system to
ICBC claims came to $223
million.” This is false.

When ICBC settles a case
oy the court makes an award,
a very minor part is for legal
costs — often less than 10%.
What KPMG has calculated is
that lawyers often charge
their clients one-third for
fees. But those legal fees do
not increase the amount
ICBC has to pay.

Victims have to prove
their injuries and disabilities
before a judge or jury. They
have to prove their loss of
income, past and future, and
cost of future care, if any.

Based on what is proved,
the court awards damages —
not legal fees. If lawyers
charged 10% or 50%, the
amount awarded would not
change. Lawyers’ fees do not
increase the amount ICBC
has to pay out in claims.

Interestingly, ICBC
spent $77 million on its

BEAUTY R

MATTRESSES AT BC'S BEST PRICES

, © FREE SET-UP

© FREE DELIVERY

EVERYDAY

© FREE REMOVAL OF OLD SET

[gj COLONY

The return on your Scotia G7 Stock-Indexed
GIC is linked to the key stock markets of the

G7 nations.

Now your money can take advantage of the
economic strength of the world’s most power-
ful economies: U.S.A., Japan, U.K., France,

HOME FURNISHINGS

1075 Roosevelt Crescent
North Vancouver
{2 blocks behind Avalon Hotel)
Open Daily Fri. 9-9, Sun. 12-4

985-8738

Fr

Italy, Germany and Canada.
It's foreign exposure and international

diversification. Your money could earn up co 30%

over a 3-year term.

e LOW PRICE GUARANTEE

own legal services.

Well, it takes nwo to
tango! If ICBC wasn’t so
unreasonable in the first
place, claimants would not
have ro go to iawyers.

Why is it that ICBC criti-
cizes victims for secking legal
assistance? Maybe ICBC
drove them to it.

ICBC (and KPMG) also
blame changing social atti-
tudes for the increase in bod-
ily injury claims and they
itemize these as:

H An increasing propensity
and ability to maximize
awards especially for non-eco-
nomic loss. (If you were feft
with chronic pain after an
accident, wouldn’t you?)

@ A growing sense that
claimants are entitled to the
maximum benefit from their
motur vehicle — insurance.
(Hew unreasonable can peo-
ple be!)

4 A growing inclination to
focus on pain and suffering.
(Just ask any accident victim
how easy it is to ignore their
pain and suffering.)

8 Heightened Jevels of adver-
tising by lawyers and a ten-
deucy for many claimants to
seek legal representation. (If
we don’t tell people their
rights, ICBC can settle their
claim for less than its worth.
Why did we ever let lawyers
advertise?)

@ A greater willingness by
judges and juries to increase
types and amounts of com-
pensation awards. (Ask any
victim if he ever got encugh

1-800-387-6507

Scotiabank &
What to do?

®Registered trade-mark of The Bank of Nova Scotia. '* Trade-mark of The Bank of Nova Scotia. The G7 Stock-Indexed GIC ¢s issued by Scotiatrust, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bank at Nova Scotia.

ior his injuries.)

B® An increasing incidence of
fraud. (Then fight fraud, not
honest claimants.)

ICBC hates whiplash or
“soft tissue injuries.” It
doesn’t seem to believe peo-
ple have real pain from
them. It says they have
minor financial impact on
people but victims have
expectations of large finan-
cial compensation, even
when minor crashes occur.

But ICBC’s own figures
state that of the bodily injury
claims closed for 1995, 94%
were for temporary injury.

The average award for
these claims was about
$6,400. And only 35% of vic-
tims retained lawyers.

Where's the crisis? I
thought ICBC was talking
about inflated claims fostered
by unreasonable lawyers.

Is ICBC saying thar it’s
the 94% of claims that settle
for $6,400 cach that is break-

ing it?
T thought it would have
been the $100,000 or $2

million claims. But in truth
those large Glaims are few and
far between. If most injured
people settled for $6,400, I
think ICBC should design a
system that can afford ir.
Why should the iitde guy suf-
fer the loss?

ICBC doesn't believe
whiplash can resuit from 2
minor fender bender or that
it can be disabling. Ever had
one?

Ask someone who has.

THE G7 STOCK-INDEXED GIC. (ANOTHER GIC WITH GUTS.) %

On
The GIC that promises the world. *

(The worst that can happen is nothing.
But your principal always stays intact.) You
get stock market action in the security of
a traditional GIC.

It's called the GIC with guts.

We think of it as the GIC with brains.

ming to eliminate lawyers

Is B.C. the only place fac-
ing rising insurance costs?
Private insurers in Alberta,
Ontario, and the U.S.A. pay
injury claims and still make a
profit. How can they afford it
and we can’?

Maybe KPMG didn’t
study the right problems.

No-fault does not reduce
insurance costs. All the states
and provinces that have
brought in no-fault have
increased their premiums.
The bureaucracy rises. Do we
really want another Workers
Compensation Board at high-
er cost? .

If innocent victims have to
get fair compensation, maybe
our premiums have to rise.
After all we may be a victim
ourselves some day.

Lawyers are not the prob-
lem. No-fault is not the solu-
tion.

The government should
survey accident victirns,
minor and major, to see how
ICBC treated thern. Ask why
it was necessary to hire a
lawyer and how sausfied or
dissatisfied the victims are
about the whole procedare
and results.

The victims are the ones
who know if the system
works, or how it could be
improved. Don’t take the
word of ICBC, or of the
jawyers, or of the so-called
experts who have never been
in an accident.

Ask the victims.

— Donald Jabour is North
Vancouver lawyer.

S Suzuxi

Sean «aa Jnmmmpemmimneae pee aad
. Aa you have to do is drive one.

www.scotiabank.ca