ICBC to ask for an increase in basic rates
Posted August 26, 2014 12:40 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) Get ready to pay more to insure your car. ICBC wants to increase basic rates.
Crashes involving distracted drivers are hurting the bottom line at ICBC, leading for it to ask for another hike to your basic insurance.
“Bear in mind, 5.2 per cent — I understand that sounds, in isolation, a high number,” says Adam Grossman with the corporation. “It’s certainly not an insignificant number. But on average, our customers can expect to pay an extra $3 per month. We’ve worked pretty hard to keep that as low as we can.”
“No one likes the news of a rate increase. It’s not something that we enjoy doing. But the fact is that the cost of injury claims continue to increase every year. We need an increase in basic rates to cover those costs,” he adds.
Grossman says rear-end crashes are the most common in BC. “[It’s] also the most common type of crash that results in an injury. And when we look at the key factor behind rear-end crashes, distracted driving is the leading cause.”
“There are many other factors, but certainly, one thing that we feel we can identify and hopefully have an impact in changing is distracted driving, and getting the message across to BC drivers that distracted driving [causes] crashes — injuries and fatalities,” he adds.
He says speed is also a common cause of crashes, with an average of 88 people killed each year in BC.
