ICBC spending more on management at expense of customer service: BC NDP

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – ICBC wants you to pay more for basic car insurance and is cutting service at the same time the corporation’s executives get a raises, according to the BC NDP.

The opposition thinks the money should instead be spent on front line staff.

Critic Adrian Dix claims there are three times as many management employees making more than $150,000 per year than there were 10 years ago.

Dix says this is coming at the expense of front line staff who have the ability to settle claims faster for drivers.

“You’re saying longer waits to settle claims. And this isn’t me saying it; this is ICBC information. They’re five times worse than they were in 2010 on the issue of unpaid claims.”

Your basic rates are also set to increase; ICBC applied last fall for a 5.5 per cent increase.

ICBC takes issue with this analysis. Adam Grossman with the insurance corporation says there’s been a salary freeze, so if any management is making more, it’s because they’ve obtained a new position.

“Someone who is in a CEO position would make more perhaps than if you weren’t the CEO and were in a VP position for example.” He says the majority positions lost in the largest round of staff cuts were actually management roles.

Grossman says their customer service performance has improved since 2011 according to feedback they’ve received. “We’ve put in place a number of more convenient ways for customers to deal with us. More online options, some that we’ve just introduced this year, more ways to deal with us over the phone so there’s less need for an in-person appointment.”

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