ICBC withdraws contentious speeding ticket proposal

The Insurance Corp. of B.C. has withdrawn its proposal that would have seen drivers pay three years of higher premiums after just one traffic violation.

The move follows a meeting with the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor-General Shirley Bond, who stated that ICBC has been instructed to ensure it applies a test of, "being reasonable – and a hike in premiums for a single speeding ticket is not reasonable."

The proposed changes would have meant close to 30 per cent of all B.C. drivers – those with at least one of a variety of traffic-related convictions on their recent record – would pay higher premiums for their basic insurance.

"While the principals of a rate structure that differentiates between good drivers and bad drivers is worth considering, I’ve directed ICBC to go back to the drawing board and rethink the options," Bond said in a news release. "My job is to make sure that I’m looking after what’s best for B.C. families."

ICBC said instead, they will undertake provincewide consultation to look at other options.

"We didn’t do a good enough job of communicating with the public or with government about the changes we were considering, and we apologize for the concern this caused," said Jon Schubert, ICBC’s president and CEO. "We’re going to take a step back and rethink the options for a reasonable way to share risk, and we’ll do a much better job of gathering public input."

The insurance provider will hold stakeholder meetings and open houses, and give opportunities for online feedback. Details on where and how customers can provide feedback will be announced in the coming weeks, ICBC said in a news release.

"It is really important for us to get this right for our customers," Schubert said. "I want to assure customers that we will not recommend any changes without much broader consultation."

The new program would have covered a three-year history of convictions, the corporation said, and would have been retroactive if approved. The plan would’ve been subject to approval from the B.C. Utilities Commission, and ICBC was hoping to have the new rules in place by 2014.

Schubert said that the changes would raise rates for 30 per cent of all drivers, but they would mean cheaper rates for the two-thirds of drivers who have clean, crash-free driving records.