A truck driver says B.C.’s public insurer is refusing to cover damage to his truck sustained in a hit-and-run — despite him having video of the crash.
Duane McDonagh was turning at 222nd and Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge on Oct. 17 when another car hit him.
The other vehicle entered the left-turn lane, then shot straight through the intersection, collided with McDonagh, then drove off without stopping.
It was all caught on McDonagh’s dash cam.
Since McDonagh wasn’t at fault, he never thought he would be at such odds with ICBC.
He says after the collision, his truck started shaking, a problem related to something called a “kingpin,” the main pivot in a truck’s steering mechanism.
He told Global News he believes the damage was done from the collision.
“There’s no way it was bad before the accident because all the indicating signs wasn’t there,” McDonagh said.
“The coupling of the tires, shaking of the steering wheel, and when we jacked it up you can actually move the tire back and forth and that’s not normal,” he said.
ICBC believes the kingpin suffered normal wear and tear on McDonagh’s 33-year-old truck.
“The damage that we saw was due to the wearing down of the metal rather than the bend or break of the metal itself,” said ICBC spokesperson Joanna Linsangan.
“That’s how we came to the conclusion that the damage to the kingpin was a result of the normal day-to-day use of that vehicle rather than the collision that recently happened.”
Linsangan added that ICBC is paying about $4,500 for repairs and parts. Based on their research, the kingpin should cost McDonagh about $500 to purchase the pin and sleeve.
But McDonagh said a motor vehicle inspection three months ago showed no issues.
For the past year and a half he’s also been rebuilding his truck and the kingpin was still good, he insists.
McDonagh says the crash could set him back several thousand dollars, and that he intends to dispute ICBC’s assessment.
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