Sharing some picture of an ICBC repair of my truck

Anthony Kalos · Oct 27, 2020

I’d move out of Canada to the United States but I’m already here !

Loudram · Oct 27, 2020

smurfs_of_war said:
I guess a little additional info for our friends south of the border who- as best I can tell- have private insurance.

A number of provinces in Canada have automobile insurance providers that are a branch of the provincial government. For example here, we have SGI Saskatchewan. ICBC is the one that the government pulls strings on in B.C., and so on.

So- while there's a few benefits there is also a laundry list of downsides. For example, I can plate my truck for a full year here which includes 2mil liability, collision insurance, etc for about $1300 a year. I also add a comprehensive package policy which gives me a host more benefits. The downside? They have you by the balls. It is illegal to operate the vehicle without SGI insurance. While SGI has- for the most part- been good, I have heard horror stories. When you get in an accident, you basically have to take what they offer and that's end of story.

On to ICBC- I know people personally who have had nightmare dealings and including this thread have read many, MANY horror stories. Price gouging, shady repairs, and to top it off they have a monopoly. The government turns a blind eye because it is a cash cow. Body shops make a killing off them for shoddy work. They overcharge ICBC for half ass repairs and are never taken to task on it because nobody ever checks up on them. Not all, but a number do. There are some really great shops out there, but some shifty ones too.

So, when I read the suggestions to lawyer up- just realize they would be fighting a branch of a provincial government. They would tie that up in bureaucracy until the truck had rotted away, OP got sick of it and abandoned it, or OP died of old age.

Sorry to hijack a bit, and if these tidbits were already common knowledge then disregard [emoji16]

Thanks for the info. I didn't know how it worked up there. Definitely sounds like you guys are between a rock and a hard place when it comes to auto insurance.

Marshall · Oct 27, 2020

smurfs_of_war said:
ICBC is renowned for being the worst, bottom feeding, trash insurance provider across the provinces- they go hand in hand with your newly elected government there. I wish you luck, but I think you're getting it dry on this one.

It's a ****** shame they have that monopoly given how horrible they are.

I seen your truck yesterday, Smurf,
My son is in B.C. What can you say, weather is O.K.
I had truck that did not look that bad and the insurance totaled it off, the rear end was hit at 100km. We have the same thing, Provincial govn't insurance, But they seem to keep on top of the repairs, and all the shops I know of seem top notch.. The last one I had repaired was a one man shop , small town, you could not tell the truck was ever hit , on the side
Everyone has to have insurance coverage before they get plates for there ride
No uninsured drivers, not to sure how some people pass a driver's test.
One thing I don't like is no fault crap. We in Sask. know how to vote anyway, LOL.
P.S. When my last truck was paid out, I was surprised how much they offered me, grabbed it and ran.

smurfs_of_war · Oct 27, 2020

Marshall said:
I seen your truck yesterday, Smurf,
My son is in B.C. What can you say, weather is O.K.
I had truck that did not look that bad and the insurance totaled it off, the rear end was hit at 100km. We have the same thing, Provincial govn't insurance, But they seem to keep on top of the repairs, and all the shops I know of seem top notch.. The last one I had repaired was a one man shop , small town, you could not tell the truck was ever hit , on the side
Everyone has to have insurance coverage before they get plates for there ride
No uninsured drivers, not to sure how some people pass a driver's test.
One thing I don't like is no fault crap. We in Sask. know how to vote anyway, LOL.
P.S. When my last truck was paid out, I was surprised how much they offered me, grabbed it and ran.

Yeah, there's a great little shop just down the way from us. Haven't taken my personal truck there, but he's worked on the farm trucks. If you saw my truck yesterday you know exactly what shop I am talking about.

My personal truck is on it's way to the city pretty quick. My daughter plowed through a herd of antelope just north of the valley. 3 off the bumper and 2 went under. I have always had great work at the shop in the city I am from, so I keep driving back for it

Marshall · Oct 27, 2020

smurfs_of_war said:
Yeah, there's a great little shop just down the way from us. Haven't taken my personal truck there, but he's worked on the farm trucks. If you saw my truck yesterday you know exactly what shop I am talking about.

My personal truck is on it's way to the city pretty quick. My daughter plowed through a herd of antelope just north of the valley. 3 off the bumper and 2 went under. I have always had great work at the shop in the city I am from, so I keep driving back for it

Being a old bugger I forget where it was , on the street I think, could have been 2 days ago.LOL I remember the color, mine is red, The shop I was talking about, N. of the river , has a frame machine as well, does lots of custom paint as well. I don't think a lawyer could do much against a govn't agency.
Don't know in B.C. anyway.
One thing I do know , do not put your name on any paper they hand you.

ram1500rsm · Oct 27, 2020

I'm just glad i have private insurance and i can choose who works on my truck when is needed the most. That's all i can say.

chri5k · Oct 27, 2020

Hopefully ICBC treats personal injuries better than they treat vehicles. I could imagine "So your leg is a little crooked after being fractured in an accident. Just wear baggier pants." Kind of like that undercoating they sprayed on the OP's truck to try to cover their shoddy work.

Tim7139 · Oct 27, 2020

This issue is complicated by the fact that the population of Golden, Revelstoke, and everything in the 95 twisty mountain miles of road between is ~11,000 people. Much of the business for the local scumbags comes from desperate travelers and locals with no alternatives.

Normally you'd go to a claim center to dispute the repair but the closest minor one is 155 miles of narrow mountain road away from Golden, so your left explaining complicated stuff to people who are not in a position to understand what you're telling them.

If you're not satisfied with answers from your adjuster the next step is their supervisor or manager, then ICBC’s Fair Practices Review department, then Fairness Commissioner, then it's Civil Resolution Tribunal or BC Supreme Court based on value.

When a repair is not up to ***** ICBC contractually must give the original shop a second chance to repair before exploring other options, which sucks for everyone involved when gross negligence is involved. ICBC is paying to correct the original issues, the shop (or shop insurance) is paying for their mistakes and damages.

Loss of use coverage for a rental is a separate endorsement that can be purchased, though in areas where there is competition repair shops may offer loaners. You can apply for loss of use if you don't have the coverage if you are not found to be at fault, but ICBC likes to find you partially at fault for being in the vehicle...or not being in the vehicle.

Tim7139 · Oct 27, 2020

BWL said:
ICBC can be stingy on the repair estimates though so it's hard to absorb too much as a repair shop.

Just to play devils advocate to the point of ICBC being stingy on the repair estimates:
Shops in places like Golden and Revelstoke have limited local parts resources, so they can get stuck with big shipping costs when they need to locate parts and they often don't get to inspect used parts in person before getting them so they get a lot of junk dumped on them which they have to pay to ship back or just try and work around. More time and cost that they might not recoup, leading to shortcuts and odd work arounds.

Deleted member 26229 · Oct 27, 2020

Tim7139 said:
Just to play devils advocate:
Shops in places like Golden and Revelstoke have limited local parts resources, so they can get stuck with big shipping costs when they need to locate parts and they often don't get to inspect used parts in person before getting them so they get a lot of junk dumped on them which they have to pay to ship back or work around. More time and cost that they might not recoup.

I get the devils advocate position here but we aren't looking at used parts not up to *****. We are looking at a incomplete repair period.

smurfs_of_war · Oct 27, 2020

Tim7139 said:
Just to play devils advocate:
Shops in places like Golden and Revelstoke have limited local parts resources, so they can get stuck with big shipping costs when they need to locate parts and they often don't get to inspect used parts in person before getting them so they get a lot of junk dumped on them which they have to pay to ship back or work around. More time and cost that they might not recoup.

I get what you're saying, but the shipping costs if they are over and above normal need to be built into the price. People who live remote will understand that. It's a fact of life living remotely. Nobody deserves to lose money in any of this, there really is no excuse for it. If the parts were going to cost 150% more for insane shipping with a ridiculous lead time, then so be it. That's what it is. Then the choice is with ICBC or the owner of the vehicle. They pay enough into ICBC that there is absolutely no excuse for this.

Clapping something like that together is absolute garbage though.

Tim7139 · Oct 27, 2020

freeloader247 said:
I get the devils advocate position here but we aren't looking at used parts not up to *****. We are looking at a incomplete repair period.

This was a comment to BWLs post on ICBC trying to lowball shops, not your case specifically.

Tim7139 · Oct 27, 2020

smurfs_of_war said:
I get what you're saying, but the shipping costs if they are over and above normal need to be built into the price.

Then you might not get what I'm saying, but that's on me for not being clear I guess.

Deleted member 26229 · Oct 27, 2020

Tim7139 said:
This was a comment to BWLs post on ICBC trying to lowball shops, not your case specifically.

Understood.

Also I can personally vouch for how awesome the guys in Golden are. The local shop owner here took the time out of his day for me to bring the truck around and took a look at it same day even though he was closed to the public. He even gave me his card to have the adjuster call him so he could explain the situation.

Tim7139 · Oct 27, 2020

freeloader247 said:
Also I can personally vouch for how awesome the guys in Golden are. The local shop here took the time out of his day for me to bring the truck around and took a look for free same day. He even gave me his card to have the adjuster call him so he could explain the situation.

That's good to hear. Golden is a nice little town, but can be a mixed bag if your trying to be productive.

I have all sorts of rants about what it takes to want to live and "work" in Revelstoke, and what I like to call mountain time (how can you be 20 minutes away for 3 hours in a town where you can't physically be more than 9 minutes away from any single point).

When I've broken down in the area its typically a tow to Calgary, Cranbrook. or the Okanogan.

Quyonmob · Oct 27, 2020

smurfs_of_war said:
I guess a little additional info for our friends south of the border who- as best I can tell- have private insurance.

A number of provinces in Canada have automobile insurance providers that are a branch of the provincial government. For example here, we have SGI Saskatchewan. ICBC is the one that the government pulls strings on in B.C., and so on.

So- while there's a few benefits there is also a laundry list of downsides. For example, I can plate my truck for a full year here which includes 2mil liability, collision insurance, etc for about $1300 a year. I also add a comprehensive package policy which gives me a host more benefits. The downside? They have you by the balls. It is illegal to operate the vehicle without SGI insurance. While SGI has- for the most part- been good, I have heard horror stories. When you get in an accident, you basically have to take what they offer and that's end of story.

On to ICBC- I know people personally who have had nightmare dealings and including this thread have read many, MANY horror stories. Price gouging, shady repairs, and to top it off they have a monopoly. The government turns a blind eye because it is a cash cow. Body shops make a killing off them for shoddy work. They overcharge ICBC for half ass repairs and are never taken to task on it because nobody ever checks up on them. Not all, but a number do. There are some really great shops out there, but some shifty ones too.

So, when I read the suggestions to lawyer up- just realize they would be fighting a branch of a provincial government. They would tie that up in bureaucracy until the truck had rotted away, OP got sick of it and abandoned it, or OP died of old age.

Sorry to hijack a bit, and if these tidbits were already common knowledge then disregard [emoji16]

damn, that is expensive for a ****** system. My full (private) coverage is $1000/year in Ontario. Another $100 for plates.

Deleted member 26229 · Oct 27, 2020

Quyonmob said:
damn, that is expensive for a ****** system. My full (private) coverage is $1000/year in Ontario. Another $100 for plates.

I pay 3400/yr after this little incident...

No other accidents.

This one cost about 12k for them to hack together, other drivers 2k car was totaled.

~9 years clean driving prior

No tickets at all

Live in in a small unpopulated town

Quyonmob · Oct 28, 2020

freeloader247 said:
I pay 3400/yr after this little incident...

No other accidents.

This one cost about 12k for them to hack together, other drivers 2k car was totaled.

~9 years clean driving prior

No tickets at all

Live in in a small unpopulated town

wow. I thought it was supposed to be a less expensive system.

Wild one · Oct 28, 2020

Quyonmob said:
wow. I thought it was supposed to be a less expensive system.

BC stands for Bring Cash,and lots of it,lol

BigLazer4u · Oct 28, 2020

freeloader247 said:
I pay 3400/yr after this little incident...

No other accidents.

This one cost about 12k for them to hack together, other drivers 2k car was totaled.

~9 years clean driving prior

No tickets at all

Live in in a small unpopulated town

Unbelievable

Sharing some picture of an ICBC repair of my truck

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