A: If you have significant injuries that do not heal within a year or so, you may end up suing the person who caused the accident in order to maximize your ultimate recovery. ICBC will hire a lawyer to defend that person as his or her third party liability insurer. At a meeting called an ‘examination for discovery’— which may take place a year or two after your accident—the lawyer will ask you questions under oath, about:

a) your health prior to the accident,
b) your level of pain and limitations over time since the accident,
c) what rehabilitation efforts you made over time.

Injured people generally have difficulty remembering how they felt a year or two before; the human mind seems to blot this out to some extent. Medication also tends to blur one’s memory. It would be very helpful, therefore, to be able refresh your memory by referring to a diary.

Unfortunately, a diary may not be confidential.

You will likely not be allowed to refer to your diary when ICBC’s lawyer asks you questions. If you must provide ICBC’s lawyer with your diary, however, he may use it to later point out contradictions between what you said under oath and what you wrote in your diary. Contradictions are one of the surest ways to harm a person’s credibility.