Reporting your accident to the ICBC Dial-A-Claim Centre isn’t the same as filing a claim for accident benefits or damages. These are separate processes that will still have to be done. You can only file a claim online or by phone if you weren’t injured and the accident wasn’t a hit-and-run.

To file a claim for no-fault accident benefits, you need to fill out an Accident Benefits Application Form (form CL-22). Unless you submit your completed form to ICBC within 90 days of your accident, you may forfeit your right to benefits. At your first meeting with your adjuster, you should be given a copy of this form. If you’re not, be sure to ask for it. The application form can also be mailed to you upon request.

You may not meet with an adjuster if you hire a lawyer early on. (He’ll handle all contact with ICBC once you’ve hired him.) If you were injured as a passenger, pedestrian or cyclist, you don’t have to visit a Claims Centre or meet with an adjuster, but you still have to file an Accident Benefits Application Form to receive benefits. The form can be requested by phone.

It’s important to be accurate and thorough in describing your injuries on your application form. If you later need treatment for an injury you haven’t mentioned, ICBC may deny that it was caused by your accident. Make sure you write on the form that your injuries include “any other injuries that might arise from my accident and any complications that might arise from my injuries.”

If you didn’t work at a full-time salaried job for 3 years prior to your accident, be very careful what you write in the employment section of your Accident Benefits Application Form. (See the Auto Accident Survivor’s Guide for suggestions on how best to handle this.)

If someone fills out your Accident Benefits Application Form for you,review it carefully before signing it. The other person may not be aware of the full extent of your injuries or your complete work history. Don’t change anything a lawyer has written without discussing this with him first. He may have deliberately omitted information he feels might reduce the value of your claim.

If you weren’t solely at fault in your accident, you can file a tort claim for damages by filing a Writ of Summons with the court. A Writ is a formal notice that legal action is being taken. You’ll also need to file a Statement of Claim that describes where and how your accident happened and what the driver did to cause it. Both documents have to be filed with the court and formally delivered to ICBC and the driver you’re suing.

Relevant time limits:

• Report a collision to the police within 24 hours in an urban area and within 48 hours in a rural area if anyone was injured; property damage exceeds $1000 (or $600 in a motorbike accident); or it’s a hit-and-run.
• Report your accident to the ICBC Dial-A-Claim Centre as soon as possible, preferably within 24 hours.
• Provide ICBC with written notice of the accident within 30 days.
• Apply for accident benefits and submit a proof of claim form to ICBC within 90 days of the accident.
• File a tort claim for damages (or compensation) within two years of your accident.
• Initiate a Part 7 legal action within two years of the date of the accident or two years from the date ICBC first refuses to provide you with benefits (or stops providing them).