Changes to the way the province handles auto insurance related legal claims came in to effect today.
Under the new rules, pain and suffering claims for victims of minor crashes will be capped at 5,500 dollars.
In 2012, the average minor injury claim was around 8 thousand dollars, a number which ballooned to more than 30 thousand by 2016.
British Columbia is the last province in Canada to introduce a cap on the claims.
It is of note that medical bills and legal costs incured as a result are not capped under the same rules, as they are considered different categories.
On top of those changes, the Civil Resolutions Tribunal will now handle ICBC settlement dispute of less than 50 thousand dollars.
New rules will also limit the number of experts used in legal proceedings to one for claims under 100 thousand, and three for claims of more.
These changes are part of a plan to cut ICBC’s 1.3 billion dollars in losses over the last fiscal year.
