ICBC must recalculate a stucco contractor's income benefits after wrongly deducting CPP from his corporate dividend income, a BC tribunal ruled.
In an August 26, 2026 decision, the Civil Resolution Tribunal examined a claim from a self-employed stucco installer hurt in a May 29, 2024 motor vehicle accident that left him with right-sided muscle atrophy, neurological damage, and a C5 to C7 spinal fusion. He ran his own incorporated business and also did some work for another window installation company.
ICBC initially disputed that all his injuries stemmed from the crash, but later accepted the connection. By the time the dispute reached tribunal, the insurer had paid $69,594.16 in income replacement benefits and $30,365.12 in permanent impairment compensation, though not until after the claimant started the dispute.
The insurer calculated his gross yearly employment income using an occupational classification for construction trades, at $100,627, since that figure exceeded his corporation's net business income of $81,543 for the year before the crash. The claimant argued his corporation's income should have been used instead but did not dispute the classification itself. Tribunal Member Amanda Binnie agreed with ICBC's approach, since the classification produced the higher figure.
The bigger issue was Canada Pension Plan contributions. ICBC had deducted CPP from the benefit calculation, but the claimant argued he did not pay into it. Binnie agreed, finding the applicable regulation makes CPP deductible only as "an employee's contribution." Tax records showed the claimant took income from his corporation as dividends rather than a salary, with no self-employed CPP contributions on file. ICBC was ordered to recalculate his benefits using a net income of $79,298.30, plus pre-judgment interest on any resulting underpayment.
A second dispute centred on an ongoing benefit suspension. The claimant returned to some work in December 2025 but gave ICBC no evidence of his hours or earnings, despite the insurer's request. The tribunal found ICBC was entitled to suspend benefits for failing to provide that information, and declined to lift the suspension until the claimant supplies proof of his post-recovery income, such as invoices or tax returns.
On permanent impairment, the tribunal found no obvious error in ICBC's calculation. The insurer had paid a combined 16 per cent impairment rating covering disc fusion, nerve root impairment, and hand numbness. The claimant argued this undervalued his ongoing limitations but provided no measurements or other supporting evidence for a higher rating. The tribunal dismissed the claim, though it left open future compensation for surgical scarring and reduced neck motion once those impairments can be properly assessed.
The tribunal also declined to consider the claimant's bid for bad faith damages, since he had not formally added those claims to the dispute, and noted it has no authority over administrative penalties in any event. A related claim for aggravated damages exceeded the tribunal's small claims monetary limit. His claim for dispute-related expenses was denied as well.
