What happened: A BC tribunal ordered ICBC to reimburse a remote claimant $6,140 for firewood he could not chop after a car accident.
Who's involved: ICBC and an injured motorist living in a remote region of British Columbia.
What's at stake: $6,475.73 in firewood reimbursement, interest, and tribunal fees.
Why it matters: The ruling shows how daily living benefits play out when claimants live far from urban services - and flags an insurer's duty to clearly communicate benefit limits.
Where it stands: Decided on October 5, 2026, and enforceable through BC courts.
Six thousand dollars' worth of firewood just became a claims-handling case study.
British Columbia's Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered ICBC to pay $6,140 to an injured motorist who lives in a remote part of the province and can no longer chop his own wood - something he did himself before a 2022 car accident left him with lower-back injuries.
The decision, issued October 5, 2026, caps a long-running benefits dispute. ICBC had cut off the claimant's accident benefits in December 2023 after he did not attend a medical exam the insurer had arranged. The tribunal then ordered its own exam - a records review by a neurosurgeon - and after receiving that report, ICBC reversed course. It reinstated benefits and paid $147,900.08 in back income payments, stretching all the way to December 2023.
That should have been the end of it. It was not.
The claimant, described in the decision as an Indigenous leader, relies on firewood in his remote community. Before the accident, he split it himself. Afterward, he could not. An occupational therapist confirmed ongoing restrictions that prevent him from doing the work.
ICBC had covered $583 for firewood shortly after the accident, paying for both the wood and delivery. But in August 2024, the insurer told the claimant it would only cover delivery going forward - not the wood itself, which it called a consumable.
The problem: the claimant had already been paying for firewood out of pocket across two winters while his benefits were frozen. Those receipts, covering November 2024 through February 2026, came to $5,500.
The tribunal found ICBC fell short of a basic obligation. Under British Columbia's Insurance (Vehicle) Act, insurers must make sure claimants know what benefits are available to them. The tribunal found ICBC did not clearly tell the claimant - until August 2024 - that it would stop covering the full cost.
It also accepted what it called "the practical reality" of the claimant's situation. Living in a remote area, it is difficult to find someone willing to travel to his property just to chop wood or help operate a wood splitter ICBC had provided. Having firewood delivered was the most workable option.
For everything before August 2026, the tribunal ordered full reimbursement: $5,500. For two August deliveries totalling $1,140, where the claimant already knew ICBC's position, the tribunal split the difference - $320 per delivery, covering the $70 delivery fee plus $250 for the labour of chopping. Total firewood order: $6,140.
The claimant's other claims had less luck. The tribunal turned down a bid for extra physiotherapy costs, finding ICBC had already paid the maximum rates set out in regulation. A claim for interest on the $147,900.08 in back income payments also failed. Because ICBC had already paid that amount, the tribunal had no outstanding order to attach interest to.
The tribunal did award $285.73 in interest on the firewood amount, plus $50 in fees, bringing the total order to $6,475.73.
For claims teams handling accident benefits in non-urban settings, the case is a concrete example of what happens when the duty to communicate benefit limits clearly is not met - and when daily living benefits run into the realities of remote life.
The decision was issued by the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal on October 5, 2026. No appeal has been reported at the time of writing.
