Unknown driver claims create an unusual insurance problem. The claimant needs a statutory route to compensation precisely because the person who caused the loss cannot be found. At the same time, the legislation requires the claimant to make reasonable efforts to identify that person before ICBC can be required to respond as nominal defendant.
Fearon v. Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, 2026 BCCA 81, is a useful reminder that the reasonable efforts requirement is not a checklist performed in isolation from what actually happened.
Three occupants were injured when a stolen pickup driven by an unidentified person struck their vehicle. Police investigated the event as a criminal matter and carried out a substantial investigation, but the driver was never identified. The trial judge nevertheless concluded the claimants had not personally done enough and dismissed their statutory claim against ICBC.
The Court of Appeal reversed that result. It held that the inquiry had to account for the investigation that was already underway, the criminal circumstances and the realistic prospect that further private steps would have produced anything useful. The law requires reasonable efforts, not performative duplication of investigative work that is highly unlikely to identify the driver.
The result does not eliminate the claimant's obligation. A person who has obvious leads, witnesses or other practical avenues cannot simply do nothing and rely on ICBC. What Fearon changes is the lens. The court asks what was reasonable in the circumstances, including what police or others had already done and whether proposed additional steps had a meaningful prospect of success.
The appeal was allowed and the matter was returned for assessment of damages. For claims handling, the decision makes the quality and context of the investigation central. The question is not whether every conceivable step was taken. It is whether the claimant did what could reasonably be expected to identify the responsible driver before turning to the statutory insurance mechanism.