Heidi Giesbrecht
ICBC Cases • Personal Injury • Wrongful Dismissal 

ICBC & Personal Injury FAQ

ICBC is my insurance company and I was not to blame for the accident; won’t the adjuster look after my interests in my personal injury claim?

In a motor vehicle/personal injury case, the adjuster assigned to your file is not really “your” adjuster at all. The adjuster is employed by ICBC and acts solely in ICBC’s best interest. It is important to realize that the adjuster’s goal and your goal are simply not the same. Your goal is to receive fair and adequate compensation for your injuries covering all the bases a Court would take into account. The adjuster’s goal is to settle your claim as quickly and for as little money as possible. ICBC and the adjuster have the best chance of achieving their goal if you are on your own and not represented by a lawyer.

Will ICBC pay more on my injury claim if I have a lawyer representing me than if I do not?

My 26 years of experience as a lawyer tells me that the offers made to injured persons trying to handle their claims on their own are usually woefully inadequate. Even after paying legal fees, you will likely do much better with a lawyer than without one.

What are the reasons for that?

Several factors come into play:

  1. First, and as previously discussed, your goals and ICBC’s goals are simply not the same. It is like you and ICBC are on the opposite ends of a tug of war rope. You want to receive fair compensation in keeping with what other people with similar injuries receive. ICBC wants to settle as quickly as possible (perhaps before the full extent of your injuries is known) and for as little as possible (because that is in ICBC’s best interests).
  2. Secondly, you are likely not a trained negotiator. Your ICBC adjuster is. You are therefore at a real disadvantage in negotiating against a professional negotiator and the chances of being taken advantage of are increased. Hiring a lawyer brings a trained professional in on your side to negotiate on your behalf.
  3. Thirdly, even if you do have some background as a negotiator, it is very difficult to be objective about your own situation. Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to advocate and stand up for someone else (like your children) than for yourself? In addition, because you have been injured you are vulnerable and likely emotionally upset which are hardly the ingredients for a strong negotiation on your part. A lawyer will bring objectivity to the negotiations and is a professional negotiator with your best interests as the goal.
  4. Most importantly, it is not your line of business to know what these claims are worth or what factors should properly be taken into account in arriving at a settlement amount. And your adjuster has no obligation to tell you. If ICBC does make you a settlement offer, how do you know if it is fair? Have all categories of possible compensation been taken into account? Is there something unique about your circumstances that should increase your compensation? Hiring a lawyer means you have someone on your side looking out for your best interests and whose goal is to ensure you receive full and fair compensation.

But lawyers cost money – will I really be better off with a lawyer than without one?

I would say yes and for all the reasons discussed above. You will likely not only do better but a great deal better with the help of a lawyer than without one. Even after paying legal fees you will likely receive far more compensation for your injuries than if you were acting on your own.

How do lawyers charge for their fees in ICBC and other personal injury cases?

Most personal injury lawyers, including myself, take these cases on a percentage fee basis. This means that the lawyer awaits payment until your case either settles or you receive a judgment after trial. The lawyer then charges a percentage of whatever your case settles for and the fee is paid when the settlement money comes in from the insurer.

What is the usual percentage that is charged?

Depending on the complexity of the issues and the expected size of the claim, most lawyers will charge anywhere between 25% and 33% of the final settlement or judgment.

Is there an advantage to hiring a lawyer on a percentage fee basis rather than on an hourly rate basis?

There are several advantages. One is that if you do not win your case, you do not pay any legal fees. This is because a percentage of nothing – is of course nothing. So the lawyer shares the risk of whether you win or lose your case. A second advantage is that you do not have to worry about paying legal fees until your case is over and the settlement or judgment is paid. This is extremely important to injured people particularly where their ability to work and earn income has been interrupted by their accident injuries. Many people simply could not afford legal help if the percentage fee arrangement was not an available option.

How long will it take to settle or conclude my claim?

Settlements are final and you only have one chance to “get it right”. If you settle too early perhaps before the whole story is known, you run the risk of settling for way less than your claim is worth. With very few exceptions, (for example you cannot read and write English or didn’t know what you were signing, or were suffering from a mental illness) you cannot re-open your claim after settling. This is true even if your injuries turn out to be more serious and disabling than you thought they were when you settled. It is therefore important not to rush into a settlement before all the facts are known. You must also allow some time to pass to enable you to heal. I recommend that my clients wait until they have largely recovered from their injuries before they consider settling their claims. I like to see my clients being 85% to 90% back to normal before settling. This may take 6 months or it may take several years depending on the severity of your injuries.

In some cases, the injuries are so serious that the injured person will never get completely back to normal. We settle these cases when the person has hit a “plateau” in their recovery and the doctors are saying “this is as good as it gets”. For example, if someone is rendered a paraplegic or quadriplegic by their injuries, they will never fully recover but will reach a plateau where the full extent of recovery has been reached and we know what we are dealing with in the future.

What is my claim worth?

People often ask me this question in the first interview or early stages after an accident. This question really cannot be answered until all the facts are known. A great deal of investigation work, research and analysis is done by the lawyer to figure out what is fair and proper compensation in an injury claim. We will not have a good “handle” on what your claim is worth until we know how bad your injury is, how long the symptoms last and to what extent your ability to work and earn income is affected both now and into the future. Claims can vary greatly depending on the type, severity and permanence of the injuries.

What is taken into account in determining what my claim is worth and what I should settle it for?

There are a number of different categories or headings of loss which will be taken into account. These include:

If I hire a lawyer, will I have to go to Court?

Not necessarily, but we will always prepare your case from the outset to be ready, organized and able to go to Court to achieve justice if ICBC is unwilling to make a fair and reasonable out of Court settlement. In 26 years of practising law, I have found that it is only when ICBC (or other insurers) are seriously presented with the prospect of going to Court that they will offer a fair and reasonable settlement. My goal is to achieve a good settlement for my clients. I will always try to do that by out of Court negotiations and settlement. However, if we cannot reach a fair out of Court settlement we will be ready and willing to go to Court. That willingness and preparedness to go to Court if necessary, is what convinces your opponent to make a fair settlement offer.

Will it ultimately be my decision whether to go to Court or to settle?

Yes. What I will do as your lawyer is advise you what your case is worth. I will advise whether an offer is “good”, “bad” or “in the ballpark” but the ultimate decision to accept or reject will be yours. For example, I may advise you that based on my investigations, legal research and experience, I believe your case is worth $50,000 to $60,000. If ICBC offers $15,000, I will advise you that the offer is poor and should be rejected. But it will ultimately be your decision to make. I find that most people, even those who are quiet or shy by nature, will reject an unfair offer and proceed to trial rather than be taken advantage of. They find the strength within themselves to do so. But yes, most cases do settle out of Court.

What percentage of these cases do go to Court?

It is actually low – about 10% of cases go to trial. The majority of cases around 90% of them, settle out of Court and do so on a fair and reasonable basis.

What type of injury claims do you, Heidi Giesbrecht, handle?

In over 26 years as a lawyer, I have experience with a broad range of injury claims arising out of both auto accidents and trip and fall cases including:

I have been successful both at trial and in settlements of hundreds of such cases.

Why should I hire you, Heidi Giesbrecht, rather than another lawyer?

Hiring a lawyer is a personal decision. You should be convinced that the lawyer you hire will work very hard on your behalf, listen to your concerns and has the skill and experience to represent you properly to achieve full justice on your behalf. I believe in the concept of justice. It is not just a word to be tossed around lightly. I also have 26 years of experience as a trial lawyer, most of it handling personal injury cases and employment law cases. This is what I do, I enjoy it tremendously, and I think I serve my clients well.