Lumby Mayor Kevin Acton's classic campervan.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED: Kevin Acton

Lumby Mayor Kevin Acton barely saw the wounded deer jump in front of him when driving on Highway 97 in Vernon last summer.

The already wounded deer didn't stand a chance as it bounced off his 1985 Dodge campervan and the vehicle slid down the road.

Acton was unhurt, but his 40-year-old campervan wasn't so lucky. He's been quoted $5,700 to get it fixed.

However, Acton, who has been the mayor of the village since 2009, is now heading to the small claims court after ICBC wanted to write the van off. They offered $3,000, minus a $300 deductible, and he'd have to surrender the vehicle.

"I pay for insurance and I've been given a quote for $5,700 to fix it, it should get fixed," Acton told iNFOnews.ca. "They didn't have the same idea."

The mayor paid $3,000 for the van three years ago and insured it straight away for $3,000.

He then spent $2,000 getting the engine fixed and put a new floor, new cabinets and a new bed in himself. He's spent dozens of hours fixing it up.

"I use it all summer long when I have time," he said.

However, after all the work Acton never changed the van's insured value so while it's certainly worth more all fixed up, he left the van's insured value at $3,000.

Acton, who is running as the BC United Vernon-Lumby candidate in the next provincial election, questions whether he was supposed to tell ICBC after he made the improvements.

It's hard to say what the vehicle is worth, but Acton says similar models sell for anything from $8,000 to $14,000 depending on the condition.

While that may be so, ICBC is steadfast that as he declared its value at $3,000 that's all it will pay out, minus the deductible.

Acton calls the offer an "absolute insult."

ICBC's other option is not to claim, pay for the work yourself, and keep the van.

He offered them a cash settlement of $4,500 but says they never responded.

There's a mechanism to appeal the decision and the matter can be raised with a supervisor and then a manager. If this fails, vehicle owners can go to arbitration albeit at a cost of $600.

Acton says he wasn't told about any appeal process and instead launched a case at the BC small claims court.

ICBC told iNFOnews.ca that it couldn't comment because the matter was in front of the courts, but reiterated that Acton insured the campervan with a declared value policy of $3,000 which limited the settlement amount.

How Acton will fare in court when the judge sees the insured value at $3,000 remains to be seen, but a court date has been set for early July.

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