The B.C. government is requesting a two-year freeze to basic insurance rates at ICBC in an attempt to tackle the rising cost of living across the province.
ICBC is filing an application with the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) for no increase to basic insurance rates for the next two years.
If approved by the independent regulator, this would mark five years of no basic car insurance increases.
“Our government is committed to keeping costs down for all British Columbians,” Premier David Eby said Monday.
Things have changed dramatically at the public insurer since the province changed to a no-fault care insurance system.
ICBC’s net income in the last fiscal year was $2.217 billion, a massive change from the billion-dollar losses posted before the change in insurance models and the COVID-19 pandemic.
A recent Canada-wide rate comparison report by Ernst & Young looked at 30 different driver profiles and compared how much auto insurance would cost in nine provinces across Canada.
The report found that British Columbians pay among the lowest auto insurance rates in Canada.
“A key priority with Enhanced Care was to make insurance rates more affordable and to keep them that way, and this rate application continues to deliver on that,” Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said.
The province made the switch to a no-fault insurance model in April 2019, rolling out a settlement cap on injuries it defines as soft tissue, coupled with the introduction of a resolution tribunal for ICBC cases.
In September 2019, the most dramatic rate structure change in the province’s history came into effect. Eby, then the attorney general, promised bad drivers would pay more, and good drivers would pay less.
However, since the changes have come into effect some crash victims have been frustrated over compensation or lack of compensation.