BC car insurance highest in Canada, says CTF as ICBC rates go up
Posted October 27, 2017 12:47 pm.
Last Updated October 27, 2017 3:55 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Drivers facing yet another rate hike next month are now being told insurance in this province is the highest in Canada.
Kris Sims with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is again pushing for changes that would see ICBC operate as a co-op, rather than what she describes as an outdated monopoly.
“If you like your ICBC — born in the 1970s, in the era of the Partridge Family and Gunsmoke, we get it… turn ICBC into a co-op so BC drivers can then opt in and it will be owned by BC drivers, then open it up to private competition,” she suggests.
The CTF claims Ontario used to be higher, but after you factor in ICBC’s latest rate hike, which takes effect in November, then BC has the highest rates in the entire country. “It’s bad news,” adds Sims.
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She adds, based on numbers released over the summer in an Ernst & Young report, the average driver will soon be paying close to $1,700 a year for insurance. “Back in 2016, the average BC driver paid $1,550 per year for auto insurance.”
Sims points out in Ontario, the basic rate is less than $1,500.
Increasingly, drivers in BC appear to be frustrated for having a good driving record, but having to pay for the mistakes of others and Sims agrees. “Why are good, responsible drivers being forced to pay higher rates because some people are terrible drivers? And if some people are terrible drivers, frankly, they should pay more.”
ICBC is not making itself available for an interview, but in a statement to NEWS 1130, says the average driver in BC will pay nearly $1,700 a year when you factor in both basic and optional insurance.
New Attorney General David Eby has already promised improvements aimed at penalizing the worst drivers. An overall audit aimed at making ICBC more efficient is underway.
ICBC rates are going up 6.4 per cent on November 1st.
