Q&A - Reporting Minor Collision Damage

It can sometimes be difficult to ascertain damage - and this could be hidden damage, such as within a bumper if the cover has sprung back into shape, or even possible physical injury; symptoms of whiplash may not be apparent until sometime after the crash.  So by reporting it as soon as possible after the collision places you in a favourable position.

When you contact ICBC Dial-a-Claim, expect your conversation to be recorded.  In all likelihood you will be asked about amount of damage (which you don't really know, but just having a bodyshop pull a bumper off a vehicle, and properly repaint and resinstall it, can run into hundreds of dollars quite easily) - and that's without consideration of bodily injury (that may not be at all obvious, just because you and your passengers 'feel fine') so you really don't know that either.

One thing that's often forgotten, even when drivers exchange Driver License and Vehicle Registration details, is phone numbers; it's always smart to obtain, and provide, any and all useful contact numbers as it can save the ICBC Claims Adjustor a bunch of work trying to contact the 'other guy', particularly if they have not reported.

If you're certain that you're the victim - seems pretty likely when you've been hit from behind - it makes little sense to settle with the other parties involved; much better to have your vehicle properly repaired by an ICBC Certified Body Shop,  So as long as you're held 25% or less responsible for the collision, it will cost you nothing to do this.  If the other party wants to settle privately, do you think they will choose the best collision repairer they can find - or the cheapest?  Going through ICBC, once it's all done and dusted they will typically have about three weeks to reimburse ICBC for all costs, and thus avoid any consequent increase in their premiums.

I once had a someone run into my parked vehicle.  I had a trailer hitch on the back, and they drove into it while parking their own vehicle.  Because of the hitch, there was literally zero damage to my vehicle.  The other vehicle had a small dent in the front bumper.

Because there was no damage to my vehicle, and I wasn't even in my vehicle at the time, I did not take the time to report it to ICBC.  The other driver, however, did -- and claimed that I had backed into his parked car.  Because I had not reported it, ICBC accepted the other driver's story and I was held 100% at fault.

ALWAYS report.

We were at a car wash, and had just pulled out into the lane way, when this woman reversed out of her parking spot aggressively, and kept going straight into the front of our car. We hooted but she kept going. Very little damage to our car but her rental that she had just received had a dent in the back. She refused to tell the rental company or report it to ICBC and told us we don't need to report it either. 

We reported it to both rental company and ICBC.