How does car insurance claims work, BC edition
July 10, 2022 10:10 AM Subscribe
My car rolled into a house while it was parked. No one was hurt. I've never had to deal with any insurance claim and since it's not clear who is at fault, I want to make sure I do it properly. I'm looking for advice about dealing with ICBC and if there are pitfalls to watch out for.
It had been parked for over 24 hours on a very slight slope where I have parked it frequently for years. The RCMP officer on the scene said there wasn't evidence of it being broken into, and ICBC would do a standard investigation into mechanical faults.
The main question I have is whether there is anything I should be careful about saying to ICBC. (For example, I believe put the parking brake on because I always do but if I said I don't specifically remember that case, would it screw me over potentially?) Any general advice for dealing with ICBC is also welcome.
It had been parked for over 24 hours on a very slight slope where I have parked it frequently for years. The RCMP officer on the scene said there wasn't evidence of it being broken into, and ICBC would do a standard investigation into mechanical faults.
The main question I have is whether there is anything I should be careful about saying to ICBC. (For example, I believe put the parking brake on because I always do but if I said I don't specifically remember that case, would it screw me over potentially?) Any general advice for dealing with ICBC is also welcome.
ICBC is in the business to pay the least amount possible while collecting as much in premiums as they can. So don’t tell them anything they can use against you. That said, theyll almost certainly find you 100% at fault unless they see some other cause as to why your car was moving when it shouldn't be. They will see it as your car moving into a stationary building. The fact you have insurance means theyll pay for the damage to the house, but your premiums will almost certainly go up unless you’ve had a very long number of claim free years and “earned” a free claim (do they even still do that? I cant remember).
posted by cgg at 11:56 AM on July 10, 2022
posted by cgg at 11:56 AM on July 10, 2022
it's not clear who is at fault
It is, in fact, clear who is at fault unless you can prove that someone cut your handbrake cable or tampered with your parking brake mechanism. You are at fault for not securing your car, unless you can find direct evidence (maybe local CCTV?) that someone interfered with your car in the time since you left it.
In future, leave your car in gear as well as setting the handbrake. Also make sure you get your car serviced and they check the handbrake mechanism as part of that service. They get less effective over time if not adjusted, lubricated or checked.
As for the insurance - you should just state that you are sure you did your bit properly (set the brake etc). Absent any evidence that the car was interfered with it will likely do you no good at all, but it is the best path to take anyway. If no evidence of tampering is found, they will just conclude you were wrong in your recall. It won't matter how vehement you are, and there is no way to shift a grey area in your favour, because there is no grey area - from their perspective either you didn't set the brake (your fault) or the brake was defective (also your fault as servicing yoru car is your responsibility) or someone messed with the car (which then you may have to prove you had secured it properly, which is MUCH harder) to allow them to concede it wasn't your fault.
Either way, I'm pretty sure your insurance will be paying up, so I don't think you can avoid the hit on your premiums because insurance companies only care about taking more than they give out. No matter who it was that made it move, the car itself created the impact. I don't think there would be a way they can just 'not pay' even if someone broke in and cut the cable. The only way out they may have is if they can pass on the cost to someone else, which would likely only happen if someone had hit your car and knocked it into the house, which I am sure you would have mentioned for context.
posted by Brockles at 6:03 AM on July 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
It is, in fact, clear who is at fault unless you can prove that someone cut your handbrake cable or tampered with your parking brake mechanism. You are at fault for not securing your car, unless you can find direct evidence (maybe local CCTV?) that someone interfered with your car in the time since you left it.
In future, leave your car in gear as well as setting the handbrake. Also make sure you get your car serviced and they check the handbrake mechanism as part of that service. They get less effective over time if not adjusted, lubricated or checked.
As for the insurance - you should just state that you are sure you did your bit properly (set the brake etc). Absent any evidence that the car was interfered with it will likely do you no good at all, but it is the best path to take anyway. If no evidence of tampering is found, they will just conclude you were wrong in your recall. It won't matter how vehement you are, and there is no way to shift a grey area in your favour, because there is no grey area - from their perspective either you didn't set the brake (your fault) or the brake was defective (also your fault as servicing yoru car is your responsibility) or someone messed with the car (which then you may have to prove you had secured it properly, which is MUCH harder) to allow them to concede it wasn't your fault.
Either way, I'm pretty sure your insurance will be paying up, so I don't think you can avoid the hit on your premiums because insurance companies only care about taking more than they give out. No matter who it was that made it move, the car itself created the impact. I don't think there would be a way they can just 'not pay' even if someone broke in and cut the cable. The only way out they may have is if they can pass on the cost to someone else, which would likely only happen if someone had hit your car and knocked it into the house, which I am sure you would have mentioned for context.
posted by Brockles at 6:03 AM on July 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
BC has a single payer insurance system (like health insurance but for cars) (sort of) so the system works a little different than private insurance systems.
RE: free claims
RE: free claims
We know that crashes do happen, so we will forgive one crash after 20 years of driving experience (at least 10 in B.C.), provided you have been crash-free for the last 10.posted by Mitheral at 6:58 AM on July 11, 2022
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Unless you have collision coverage they won't cover damage to your car or any costs associates with extracting it from the building. Unless you ran into the taj mahal or something your liability insurance should cover damage to the building (the minimum coverage you are allowed to carry is $200,000).
If the amounts involved are relatively small you can pay out of pocket to preserve your discount and that may be cheaper long term. You may also be entitled to a "free" claim if you have a sufficiently long claim free history though. (Used to be 10 years).
posted by Mitheral at 10:50 AM on July 10, 2022 [4 favorites]