A: This is an extremely important question because ICBC pays a handful of selected doctors between $200,000 and $796,000 each per year. These doctors’ opinions about your injuries and degree of disability are generally on the “conservative” side, whereas their opinions about your future possible problems tend to be on the “optimistic” side.

ICBC will try to convince you to visit a doctor of its choice. As lawyers, our objectives are:

• to ensure our clients avoid these “defence medical examinations”, or
• to at least avoid allowing ICBC to rely on the opinions of the doctors they choose in court.

To maximize your chances of success, you should seek legal advice for this part of your case as soon as ICBC asks you to visit a doctor of its choice. You do not necessarily have to decide to hire a lawyer for your entire case at that time. You may ask a lawyer to deal with this issue alone. Our firm offers free initial consultations in the types of cases we handle.

Below are more details about this issue:

If you have sued, the Rules of Court govern the rights under the lawsuit. One of those rules governs when ICBC—the insurer for the other driver—asks the court for an order that you see a certain doctor. A great deal of law has developed over the years governing what circumstances the court will order that an injured person attend a “defence medical examination.” Our courts often refuse ICBC’s requests for orders that claimants attend a certain medical examination.

If you have not sued, then ICBC’s right to have you see a doctor of its choice is governed solely by the part of your insurance policy with ICBC that provides for your Accident Benefits (income replacement, medical and rehab benefits and homemaker disability benefits). The wording in section 99 of your policy is very broad. It states:

“An insured who makes a claim under this Part shall allow a medical practitioner, dentist, physiotherapist or chiropractor selected by the corporation, at the expense of the corporation, to examine the insured as often as it requires. The corporation is not liable to an insured who, to the prejudice of the corporation, fails to comply with this section.”

If you refuse to comply with ICBC’s request under Section 99 of your Accident Benefits policy, you could immediately be disentitled to these benefits, even though a court may eventually award you compensation for what is covered by these benefits. For example, a court may eventually order that the careless driver whom ICBC is defending pay you $15,000 damages for the cost of a multi-disciplinary pain program. If you did not comply with Section 99 of your policy, ICBC will mostlikely not have to pay for this program, in spite of the court award.

Under some circumstances, injured people will suffer little or no harm by not attending ICBC’s chosen doctor. In these cases, ICBC will have no doctor to counter the opinion of your doctor until after you sue and ICBC obtains a court order. That may be a year from now. An injured person may suffer little or no harm by not attending ICBC’s chosen doctor when:

• the person has excellent disability and extended health coverage through work,
• the latter plan covers all the physical and psychological treatment the person needs, and
• it is very clear that the person will not need an expensive multidisciplinary pain clinic in the future.

Before you agree to see a doctor at ICBC’s request, it would be valuable for you to obtain legal advice from an experienced injury lawyer. You and your lawyer can weigh the pros and cons (risks and benefits) of agreeing or not agreeing to see ICBC’s chosen doctor.

If you chose us as your lawyer we might agree that you see ICBC’s chosen doctor under your Accident Benefits policy, but will:

• insist that ICBC first bring your Accident Benefits up to date (such as weekly disability benefits and physio excercises),
• send you to a medical specialist and perhaps also an occupational therapist of our choice to balance the opinions of the doctor ICBC sent you to.