B.C. is about to assume a title that few drivers are likely to be proud of: the most expensive place to buy auto insurance in the country.
That’s according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), which noted in a Friday news release that the average cost of insurance will shoot up to $1,680 next year with a rate hike.
Coverage of ICBC on Globalnews.ca:
That cost would put B.C. over Ontario, which used to have Canada’s most expensive average insurance when it cost $1,458 in 2015.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada confirmed both those numbers.
“Every other province, every other driver has an average lower insurance rate than we do here in B.C.,” Kris Sims, the B.C. director for the CTF, told Global News.
“And we have no choice, we have to stick with ICBC.”
READ MORE: ICBC seeks 6.4% basic rate increase after losing $500M last year
The Insurance Bureau said Ontario’s rates have been stable, or dropping.
But B.C.’s have just kept on rising — and it’s not a popular trend with drivers.
“It just keeps going up,” said one. “They say one thing and bring it up another way.”
ICBC didn’t make a spokesperson available to speak on camera. But it questioned the numbers from both parties.
Sims said B.C. drivers need more options for buying insurance.
“We need to change this corporation and we need choice when it comes to insurance,” she said.
At least one commuter agreed with her.
“I think if we had competition then they wouldn’t be able to keep jacking up prices,” he said.