Widow wins ICBC fight

A Peachland widow whose husband died after a 2022 motorcycle crash won her claim against ICBC.

The Civil Resolution Tribunal was recently tasked with considering whether Christina Passmore was entitled to accident benefits following a July 19, 2022 motorcycle crash that preceded the death of her husband, Gerald Prins, 11 days later.

ICBC refused to pay out spousal death benefits because, by their view, Prins did not die because of the accident but, rather, an underlying medical condition.

That assertion, however, fell flat when it made its way to Tribunal member Amanda Binnie, due to a lack of evidence.

Passmore swayed Binnie to see her view through evidence submitted by Prins's doctor who said the 77-year-old had been in good physical health at the time of the single vehicle accident that preceded his death.

Dr. Elizabeth Allen said it was “highly likely” that the accident played a role in the fatal venous thromboembolism. She also provided medical literature supporting the position that pulmonary embolism can be caused by both major and minor trauma.

ICBC tried to counter that view by submitting the opinion of internist Dr. Benjamin Wiestra, as well as an on-call coroner consultation from Betty Noble. Noble felt the accident was “unlikely to be causally related to the subsequent pulmonary embolism and cardiac arrest” but her opinion was deemed hearsay, as ICBC provided no statement or opinion directly from her.

ICBC also said that Prins had hypertension, osteoarthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome.

"ICBC does not provide any supporting evidence of whether these conditions would have increased Mr. Prins’ risk of a pulmonary embolism, or whether they did in this specific instance," Binnie said.

"ICBC does not specifically dispute Mr. Prins was an otherwise healthy and active man of his age at the time of the accident."

Ultimately, the Tribunal ruled Prins' cardiac arrest was a result of the motorcycle accident, and ICBC was ordered to calculate the amounts of death benefits for a spouse under the policy and pay Passmore.

According to an obituary, Prins settled in Peachland in 2000 where he shared his love of motorcycling with many good friends. He joined the Peachland Fire Department, where his service and mentorship were valued for 15 years.