We were very impressed when ICBC stepped in, literally when we were in or just out of the hospital said "Leave them to us, we will handle all charges". And, they did. They took on the famously exorbitant private sector hospital billings, negotiated them down, and paid, all without us needing to get involved. Swell.

What we did not know until a year and half later was that they also sent a letter to our lawyer stating that they expected to get their money back out of any potential settlement. So that meant that not only were they expecting our lawyer to work on their behalf, but if, for example, a settlement of $15,000 would be obtained, then out of the $10,000 remaining after the legal fee they would want it all!

There is a provision in Florida law to prevent this, putting the victim a little higher in the pecking order, but this only applies if a genuine effort has been made to achieve a higher settlement. That means the settlement must be the result of a jury trial. To have a jury trial, your lawyer must be willing to invest the considerable time needed to set it up and argue it. The lawyer will not really want to do that unless it's worth it (to him/her). So...Catch 22!

To be fair, from the point of view of the victim's insurance it would be unfair for the victim to accept an easy but small pain and suffering settlement, leaving nothing to reimburse the medical bills.