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Take the issue of causation. Say you were injured in a crash but were pushed hard to return to work after six months in spite of ongoing pain. You are not at your best, your boss is unsupportive and critical, and you go off work with symptoms of depression and anxiety. If ICBC decides unilaterally that your symptoms are due to “workplace stress” and not related to your original injuries, you will not qualify for further wage-loss support or psychological treatment. How will you argue otherwise, without a lawyer and quite possibly without a regular doctor?

If you are covered, you will not receive a lump-sum settlement to use as needed, but will be joined at the hip to the ICBC bureaucracy, possibly forever. In the language of no-fault Manitoba Public Insurance, “income replacement will continue for as long as the claimant meets eligibility criteria.” So, every few months, or year or two, you may need to submit burdensome medical proof of ongoing impairment to continue with your wage-loss benefits. Also, at any time ICBC may decide that you could do job X, even part-time, instead of your own job — in the Manitoba plan, this is called “determined employment” — and, of course, if you don’t pursue it, your benefits can be docked accordingly.

About that impressive-sounding new $1,200 per week maximum wage loss benefit? Remember, ICBC must first accept that you cannot work, and they may disagree with you and your doctor about this. Most concerning is that this will be awarded solely based on your current income. If you are doing well in an apprenticeship and stand to finish and make a lot more money, for example, you will not be compensated for those future earnings if you cannot continue with your career.