So you’ve been in a motor vehicle accident. To your relief, ICBC says the accident is 100% not your fault. Better yet, you’ve been assigned an adjuster who will look after all

your needs. When the time is right, your friendly adjuster assures you of a fair and proper settlement. Oh and by the way, don’t bother hiring a lawyer. They will just take their cut out of your fair settlement and you will not only end up with less money, but your greedy lawyer will waste time dragging the matter out. Better to take the money now. Or is it?

No matter what you may think (or have been told) what your case is worth, before ever settling your case directly with ICBC, consider this:

  1. Your ICBC adjuster works for ICBC, not for you. Their job is to minimize payouts to you and all other claimants. Given this conflict of interest, can you really trust your adjuster?
  2. Most qualified personal injury lawyers will give you a free legal consultation.
  3. Why wouldn’t your adjuster want you to get legal advice on your claim if there was nothing to hide?
  4. Guess what? If you file a claim, your “friendly” adjuster, like magic, no longer represents you. He/she now represents the driver who’s injured you. They are no longer your “friend” and are now your adversary.
  5. It’s to ICBC’s advantage to get you to settle as quickly as possible. Claim values typically grow when injuries do not resolve quickly.
  6. Your adjuster is not doing you any favour. The law in B.C. requires ICBC to provide you with proper medical and rehabilitative treatment, no matter whose fault.
  7. If your symptoms persist, only a qualified lawyer will be able to adequately deal with complexities such as medical and vocational experts, loss of income, loss of future earning potential and cost of future care.
  8. ICBC’s adjusters and managers have received bonuses for keeping claim payouts below certain thresholds. Fair settlements? Think again. As with all insurance companies, it’s all about the bottom line.
  9. You wouldn’t buy anything without some information about its market value (house, car, stereo etc.). Why would you merely accept the value of your claim from someone whose job it is to settle for the lowest amount?
  10. Under ICBC’s system, having an adjuster purport to look after your needs is like putting the fox in charge of the hen house.

You need someone truly on your side. Why settle for less? Contact Einfeld Law for a free, initial consultation at (250) 712-0001, visit our website at www.einfeldlaw.com or find us on facebook.

D. Glenn Einfeld is a highly knowledgeable and experienced BC personal injury lawyer and BC motorcycle accident lawyer who has successfully litigated many ICBC claims and other insurance claims, including out of province claims, wrongful death, brain injury, spinal cord injury, whiplash, soft tissue injury, and all other serious injury claims.

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