Life-altering accident and battle with ICBC

Yoshi, aRichmond senior is struggling to navigate ICBC’s no fault insurance system after a devastating crash two months ago.

Yoshihiro Yanagitani, 74, was out riding his motorcycle near Iona Beach when he got hit by a car that “came out of nowhere.”

“Instantly, I lost everything. Then… I (woke) up in Vancouver General Hospital,” he told the Richmond News from his hospital bed, adding that he doesn’t recall much of the May 7 accident.

Yanagitani was diagnosed with injuries including a fracture beneath his left eye, fractured ribs, and a fractured fibula. He was then transferred to Richmond Hospital a few days later and has remained there since.

His left shoulder, which was dislocated, was only discovered three weeks after his hospitalization.

Yanagitani has been running and operating a car repair shop in Bridgeport, Specialist A & A Japanese Engine, for more than three decades.

But after the accident, he had to close shop and lay off his employees as he could not supervise them.

And Yanagitani’s difficult journey, navigating the insurance system, began not long after he woke up in the hospital.

“Three, four days after (the accident) I called ICBC,” he said, “They just gave me a claim number and then (said) they will contact me after that.”

He did not hear from ICBC, aside from some discussion about the damage to his motorcycle, until he finally got a lawyer.

“Nobody called me for one month, so I (was) just scared,” he explained, adding that he hoped a lawyer would help him overcome the language barrier and better communicate with ICBC.

So far, ICBC has only paid for an occupational therapist to assess whether Yanagitani’s office at the repair shop, where he was staying before the accident, was safe for him after he gets discharged from the hospital.

See article for details.

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