How effed am I (ICBC question)

Bumper isn't damaged, paintings cheap, but taking bumper off/on to inspect the frame is what's costing you that. I'd go through icbc and pay it off.

Gosh, what a complicated subject. With so much to be pissed off about, it gets convoluted… Remember, MY car took the brunt of the impact.

The answer to my little guessing game above is…..

remember, this was initially quoted for repair work to MY CAR for about $2,800 at most….according to 3 different sources…

….. ya ready?

….

$7,500.

Add to that the damage on the other vehicle. ($900). This $900 was already quoted with, what I choose to call, the "ICBC fuck-over factor" applied. Had this been quoted to someone without mention of ICBC, or placement of fault, I'm sure it would have come out at closer to $300. I don't know this for sure, but my suspicion is high.

How is it that the cost of the work on my car would TRIPLE once the shop knows that ICBC are now involved? I could understand an extra half hour of labour here or there, BUT TRIPLE? Even add another $500 in parts, you're still way out of whack.

Pissed off item 1: stupid ambulance

Pissed off item 2: stupid woman having a BC-style panic attack once she sees anything resembling an emergency vehicle.

Pissed off item 3: (HER DAMAGE) stupid woman sends me a quote for $900 in damage for what, from the outside, looked like some scratched paint

Pissed off item 4: (MY DAMAGE) estimates from "legitimate" businesses mysteriously tripling.

Pissed off item 5: Getting reamed by ICBC for the next couple years. And for what? For their protection against the cost of doing repairs to my car, and hers (minus the deductible of course, I'll still be on the hook for that). But as noted above, apparently the cost of repairs depends on who's paying the bill.

Pissed off item 6: Repair shops essentially inflating repair bills because they know they can just make it up and charge it to ICBC. Of course, at the end of the day, this cost to ICBC gets passed along to all the people who are forced to pay for their services.

Pissed off item 7: The fact that I'm pretty much forced into claiming with ICBC due to the threat of getting pursued by some cow who might decide she wants to sue me for something sometime within the next 2 years? Such horseshit.

Pissed off item 8: The loaner I've driving around smells like farts. And it wasn't me.

i like how everyone is so piss poor that ay sort of damage to something like a vehicle is a crippling blow to someones life.

talk about working class oppression and control.

All of your points are either speculation or people taking advantage of the system, and nothing against ICBC itself.

Gosh, what a complicated subject. With so much to be pissed off about, it gets convoluted… Remember, MY car took the brunt of the impact.

The answer to my little guessing game above is…..

remember, this was initially quoted for repair work to MY CAR for about $2,800 at most….according to 3 different sources…

….. ya ready?

….

$7,500.

Add to that the damage on the other vehicle. ($900). This $900 was already quoted with, what I choose to call, the "ICBC fuck-over factor" applied. Had this been quoted to someone without mention of ICBC, or placement of fault, I'm sure it would have come out at closer to $300. I don't know this for sure, but my suspicion is high.

How is it that the cost of the work on my car would TRIPLE once the shop knows that ICBC are now involved? I could understand an extra half hour of labour here or there, BUT TRIPLE? Even add another $500 in parts, you're still way out of whack.

Pissed off item 1: stupid ambulance

Pissed off item 2: stupid woman having a BC-style panic attack once she sees anything resembling an emergency vehicle.

Pissed off item 3: (HER DAMAGE) stupid woman sends me a quote for $900 in damage for what, from the outside, looked like some scratched paint

Pissed off item 4: (MY DAMAGE) estimates from "legitimate" businesses mysteriously tripling.

Pissed off item 5: Getting reamed by ICBC for the next couple years. And for what? For their protection against the cost of doing repairs to my car, and hers (minus the deductible of course, I'll still be on the hook for that). But as noted above, apparently the cost of repairs depends on who's paying the bill.

Pissed off item 6: Repair shops essentially inflating repair bills because they know they can just make it up and charge it to ICBC. Of course, at the end of the day, this cost to ICBC gets passed along to all the people who are forced to pay for their services.

Pissed off item 7: The fact that I'm pretty much forced into claiming with ICBC due to the threat of getting pursued by some cow who might decide she wants to sue me for something sometime within the next 2 years? Such horseshit.

Pissed off item 8: The loaner I've driving around smells like farts. And it wasn't me.

So?

Earlier this year I had to deal with ICBC for a claim that just involved my wife's vehicle. It involved the rear passenger door and part of the rear quarter panel. I opened the claim and got an estimate from ICBC, their estimate replaced everything, opened the door to make sure the impact beam wasnt affected, and blended the paint. It came to around $2500, assumuming the impact beam was fine.

Out of curiosity I took the car to a couple other shops in town and out right told them I didnt want to deal with ICBC and would rather pay myself. I requested two quotes from these shops:
1. A full on repair, just as an ICBC repair would. Full blending, replace any of the plastic bits, make it new again, new door if needed.

2. A decent repair but nothing too fancy. Skip on the blending, salvage the door if possible, if not then get a replacement from a wrecker. Basically make it safe and prevent any future rusting, but it may not look pretty.

Both shops knowing I didn't want to use ICBC quoted similar prices as ICBC for the full on repair. Both had the caveat of: "until we take this apart we can't guarantee anything"

Both shops quoted around $1800 for the half-assed repair and both gave the same caveat.

The point is that today's cars really do wrack up the cost when repairing damage. Back in the day you could litterally just tap out a dent in a fender bender as everything was made of metal. Today everything is made of plastics. Furthermore, todays vehciles have so much in safety devices that it really brings up the costs. By law a body shop can't send out a vehicle unless they can guarantee the airbags, impact beams, etc are safe and acceptable for use. Oftentimes that means taking the entire body apart just to inspect one part, that time costs money.

oh and another thing.

I briefly worked for ICBC in the past and I discovered that they take shop fraud very seriously. For a shop to be ICBC certified (which means they get paid immediately and have business sent their way) they cannot have any track record of screwing ICBC in the past. The vehicle inspectors ICBC employs are all former body shop workers or mechanics themselves, they know the costs of repairs and they know what to look for. Not to mention everything is prepared on a set-price quote system like any car shop uses.

For an ICBC Car Shop (which means they do the estimate and the repairs) their track record has to be impecable and they have to have been around for a long time. They have no interest in royally screwing ICBC.

This isn't to say shops don't pad repairs here and there but its not a massive scam like it is being suggested here. Autobody repairs are ridiculously expensive.

can't you take the original quote from the repair company to ICBC and ask about the discrepancy and let their investigators look into it. Or the media. there is something definitely fishy about a quote tripling.

This isn't to say shops don't pad repairs here and there but its not a massive scam like it is being suggested here. Autobody repairs are ridiculously expensive.

Isn't personel injury claims most of the $$$ that icbc pays out ?

This isn't to say shops don't pad repairs here and there but its not a massive scam like it is being suggested here. Autobody repairs are ridiculously expensive.

I'd expect there to be a little wiggle room, but tripling was rather surprising.

Why would 3 shops be in the same ballpark? I "get" that there can be some hidden damages, but I'd think that people who fix stuff like this day-in, day-out would be able to get a better handle on estimates.

I won't go so far as to call any of this "fraud". Not quite. But it sure seems "convenient". How often does ICBC check up on shops to make sure they're legit?

I'd expect there to be a little wiggle room, but tripling was rather surprising.

Why would 3 shops be in the same ballpark? I "get" that there can be some hidden damages, but I'd think that people who fix stuff like this day-in, day-out would be able to get a better handle on estimates.

I won't go so far as to call any of this "fraud". Not quite. But it sure seems "convenient". How often does ICBC check up on shops to make sure they're legit?

If all of the shops came in around the same ball park on initial estimate, then all of the shops "missed" the hidden damage.

Rather than bitching about it (at $2800 + $900 were you going to pay it yourself?), why don't you ask the shop for an updated estimate that shows exactly why the quote is higher?

ICBC is actually really quite sticky when it comes to authorizing higher repair amounts. They want photos of all damage from the shop, and will send someone out if something seems fishy. The way the shops invoice them nickel-and-dimes every single piece to make sure everything is documented.

I am unclear, did you go to an ICBC center and "DO" an ICBC claim and then elect not to process the claim when they told you what it would do to your insurance OR did you get to where you are now completely independant of ICBC ?

I think you could change your mind and have ICBC pay if it was the former but if you did the latter … you are probably screwed

you're so screwed, you should probably flee the country

I think the whole 2 year to claim any damage to your vehicle from accident is stupid. had one bite me in the ass this year, accident happened 2 years ago and my car slid under this pickup and didn't damage anything but messed up my own front end. icbc inspected his car, it was good to go and 2 years later I get letter saying he's claiming the repair now. it should be 3 months time frame, 2 years, who knows what he might have done