Family battling with ICBC after father’s brain injured in pedestrian-truck collision

A North Vancouver family’s world was turned upside down in February when the father was struck by a pick-up truck while crossing a road.

Nine months later, the family is fighting to get the care they say Mansour Barhami-Marvdasht needs. They are blaming ICBC’s No-Fault Insurance system for putting them in limbo.

“His (cognitive ability) and his short-term memory were just completely, completely altered,” Golshan Barhami-Marvdasht, his daughter, said.

“You can’t tell me that someone crossing the street at a green light at a crosswalk could get hit by a truck and it’s labelled as no fault. That doesn’t make any sense. It’s the driver’s fault.”

Back in 2021, when ICBC introduced the No-Fault model, it said this would ensure injured people would get the care they needed faster, but Golshan said the model has not led to that reality for them. The family has since hired legal counsel.

Barhami-Marvdasht spent two months in hospital after the collision and has been placed in a long-term care facility near Lions Gate Hospital, living alongside advanced dementia patients.

He has expressed that he wants to go home, according to Golshan.

“He is always depressed. He looks around and he tells me, ‘I see these people. They’re staring at the walls, they’re not moving. Did they put me here to die?’’ she said.

Golshan has been asking to get her father into a different facility that could care for her father better.

One of the father’s doctors agrees.

“He is not receiving the care he needs as outlined by the physiatrist,” Dr. Sepideh Pojhan said in a letter. “He will benefit from moving to a long-term care facility that can provide (different) care.”

ICBC provided a statement about the case.

“To date, we have approved all treatment plans and recommendations from his care team. We met with his occupational therapist, lawyer and family last week, and sessions with a psychologist and speech-language pathologist were recommended to further help with this recovery, which we will be funding,” an ICBC spokesperson said.

“We understand this is a challenging time for Mr. Barhami-Marvdasht and his family after he was injured in a crash. We have been working closely with him, his family and his care team to ensure he is accessing all of the benefits available to him under Enhanced Care.”

ICBC said under the former litigation-based model, there would be no certainty for Mansour to receive the care and recovery he needs.

“If he were to sue under the former model, a trial may have taken years and his lawyer would have likely taken at least one-third of any settlement as fees.”

Golshan said ICBC has not designated the father’s injuries as catastrophic, which would entitle the family to $10,000 a month.

“In my opinion, they are prolonging it, hoping that my dad dies in the meantime because when there’s no victim then (and) they won’t have to be liable for anything,” she said.

by Global News