Vehicle estimate holds

Reasons for placing a vehicle estimate

Holds are placed on a repair estimate to prevent repairs or total loss settlements when

an engineer is hired to examine the vehicle by either plaintiff counsel (PC ) or defence counsel (DC)
PC or DC request a hold
a Special Investigation Unit (SIU) investigator or officer is required to investigate the claim or examine the vehicle
vehicle damage is inconsistent with the loss type
there is a potential
- breach, or
- fraudulent activity regarding the claim
there is a lack of coverage
the vehicle owner has outstanding ICBC debt and
- the third party (TP) has not reported or accepted responsibility, or
- there is no TP
further investigation is required, or
a material damage (MD) dispute at first notice of loss (FNOL) exists.

Important: Placing a hold

on a repair estimate disqualifies the claim from payments for
- vehicle repairs
- Loss of Use (LOU) payments (on a reimbursement basis only), or
- total loss settlement, and
may impact the removal of personal items when a vehicle is non-drivable and in the possession of a tow company

Note: The biohazard cleaning of vehicles is not impacted, however vehicles with an SIUrelated hold should not be biohazard cleaned.

Application and accountability

The same principles apply to every repair estimate hold, regardless if the vehicle is drivable , non-drivable , or salvage. Payments for vehicle repairs or replacement cannot be made if the repair estimate has a hold status.

The vehicle damageexposure owner is responsible for placing and removing the hold on the repair estimate.

Handling for a repair estimate hold

The table indicates when to add or remove a repair estimate hold.

When to hold or flag	What hold or flag to create	When to remove hold or flag
No customer contact Stop payout of vehicles, either repair or actual cash value (ACV) MD Dispute	Vehicle estimate hold	Investigation completed Debt paid Responsibility resolved
Vehicle damage is inconsistent Need confirmation from the registered owner (RO) on possible beach of rate class territory, or principal owner Awaiting valid driver's licence	Vehicle estimate hold	Investigation completed Debt paid Responsibility resolved
Potential breach auto segmentation from FNOL	Coverage in question flag Vehicle estimate hold	Investigation completed
Further investigation required	Vehicle estimate hold	Investigation completed
Lack of coverage and British Columbia (B.C.) TP responsible or partially responsible	Vehicle estimate hold	Responsibility resolved
Engineer or SIU investigation	SIU flag Vehicle estimate hold	Engineer viewed or provided report SIU investigation completed
Litigation - Further investigation required	Vehicle estimate hold	Defence strategy defined PC satisfied