Langley man’s heartbreaking battle with ICBC following serious crash

A Langley man is going public with his months-long fight with ICBC as he tries to get costs covered after three members of his family were in a crash last October.

Speaking with our sister station OMNI News, Jasmeet Singh’s wife, 12-year-old son and mother-in-law were on their way back from the store. He says he spoke to his wife who said they were just a couple of minutes away from the house. Soon after their conversation ended, she suffered a stroke behind the wheel. Their 12-year-old son jumped in to take control of the car, but they ended up crashing and in a ditch.

He says he wasn’t aware of what happened, but heard first responders in his neighbourhood, including a helicopter. Adding, when he went outside and saw the commotion, he saw their vehicle.

As he ran towards the scene, he says his wife was already on her way to Royal Columbian Hospital. Crews allowed him to hold his son’s hand briefly before he was rushed to BC Children’s Hospital.

Their injuries were incredibly serious.

His wife will finally be coming home Friday, but she’s not mobile and can’t speak.

His son has lost more than 50 per cent of vision in both eyes and suffered broken bones to his legs, back, neck, face and skull, and also suffered a brain injury. Singh says doctors initially told him his son wouldn’t survive. His mother-in-law is also recovering.

Singh says ICBC sent him details about its enhanced care coverage and gave him the impression almost everything would be covered, but that’s not the case.

“When I started dealing with them, it’s been seven months, I started seeing the true face of ICBC,” explained Singh. “They show a lot of things, but basically it comes out that they’re giving nothing.”

The costs he thought were going to be covered included upgrading the family home with specialized medical equipment his wife requires, like a stairlift, hospital bed and changes to the bathroom, but he says that’s not happening.

Singh says he’s also recently returned to work because their medical costs are piling up. He asked for his loss in wages to be covered because he was at the hospital full-time. He calls ICBC’s response “inhumane,” claiming they told him he was there by choice and was able to go home if he wanted to.

He stresses the changes to their home have set him back roughly $18,000 to $20,000 and that doesn’t include all the various therapies required and the full-time care his wife needs.

“If we stop, her recovery will stop. They have not even given a dollar for anything, like no personal care assistance while I was in the hospital. No other benefits. Nothing.”

Singh says he’s found facilities and specialists in other countries, like the U.S. and Germany, that can help restore his son’s vision, but ICBC isn’t helping to pay for that.

“There are multiple treatments and therapies which are available within Canada and outside Canada, which can help a patient like him to recover a little more vision, like around 15 to 20 per cent. ICBC flatly denied everything. They said they don’t consider any treatment outside Canada.”

He says the public insurer told him the crash had nothing to do with the vehicle, but the brain bleed his wife had. “Again, they’re trying to say that they’re giving a lot of stuff, but they’re not giving anything. They’re just giving the bare minimum.”

His son, Jai Vansh Singh Behl, knows he’ll never fully see again, but feels he is slowly getting better.

“My vision is very blurry and because of the blurriness I feel scared to go out for a walk by myself, even though I know I can. I still feel scared vision-wise because I’m not sure what will happen.”

The pre-teen acknowledges his life has changed forever.

“In February, I had a concussion because I’m deficit. I tripped and I hit my head because I couldn’t see… and then we had to call an ambulance and I went to the hospital.”

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Behl admits the road to recovery has been hard, but as a family they’re trying to remain hopeful and positive.

“When I was staying in the hospital and I was good enough to go meet my mom for the first time, the first thing I said to her after ‘Hi’ was ‘Mom, I know I haven’t always let you know how much I appreciated you, but I really hope you know that. I’m very thankful for what you’ve done for me and what you’ve always done. So, I feel you should know that.'”

ICBC says Singh’s wife’s current symptoms are the result of the stroke, not the car crash.

“In this case, medical information confirms Ms. Behl is not experiencing any symptoms related to the crash, therefore she isn’t eligible for benefits through ICBC,” says the public insurer in a statement to CityNews.

It adds it has provided more than $25,000 to date for various treatments, including occupational therapy, counselling, and in-home physiotherapy for Jai. It says it’s also given Jai funding for a bike pedal exerciser and ankle weights.

When it comes to paying for Singh’s son’s vision treatments, ICBC says it hasn’t made a decision yet.

“We haven’t denied vision therapy for Jai Behl. His father, Mr. Behl, asked ICBC to fund out of province treatment and we’ve requested additional information to better understand the request and need for travel. We fund treatments that require excessive travel if they’re reasonable, necessary and not offered locally,” says the Crown corporation.

ICBC also says the family can make an appeal through its Fair Practices Office and through its Claims Decision Review process, which could end up at a tribunal.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to show ICBC has provided more than $25,000 for various treatments for Jai.