Your neck and back hurt. And you can't get a good nights sleep.

Sounds to me like you were injured in your car accident.

However, there wasn't much damage to your car. And your ICBC  adjuster said that according to ICBC's Low Velocity Impact (LVI) policy your right to compensation and the extent of the damage to your car are  directly linked.

Confused ? Let me try and sort out what's going on here.

ICBC has a policy - what they call their Low Velocity Impact Policy ( LVI). The simplified story here is that ICBC says that in order for you to have suffered injuries of any consequence your car must have sustained a certain level of damage. And as such the compensation they are prepared to pay on injury claims, that fall within the scope of their policy, is affected.

The courts in British Columbia have taken a somewhat different approach. In fact, Mr. Justice Macaulay had this to say about ICBC's LVI policy in the Thomas v. Wormsley case:

"... There was no damage to Mr. Thomas' car in the first collision and minimal damage in the second. Nonetheless, as I and other judges have stated before, it is a myth to suggest that low impact correlates directly with lack of compensable injury. "

So what's the bottom line?

If you take your case to trial, the damage to your vehicle is only one of a several factors that a judge may consider when determining if you should be awarded compensation for your injuries.