ICBC to Offer Windshield Repair
It’s another step in the effort to reduce claim costs for ICBC, which says it handled nearly 110 thousand windshield replacement claims last year. Windshield replacement costs last year were 28 % higher than in 2010. With the average replacement costing $820 dollars, and the average chip repair costing less than $70, ICBC says there are considerable cost savings by offering the chip repair coverage.
According to ICBC, the move to covering repairs is possible because of improvements in the technology and materials used to repair a windshield.
ICBC says the new program will not impact a persons claims history or their deductible.
Comments
“ICBC says the new program will not impact a persons claims history or their deductible”
Ha ha, yeah right, it won’t impact a persons claim history. Since when does an insurance company pay out anything without recouping their losses? Maybe if only 2-3 people take advantage, but what if 10,000 do, is ICBC going to eat the 700K? I doubt it.
The idea is if 110,000 people take advantage, and don’t need to get their windshield replaced ICBC could save 35 million ($820.00-$500.00 deductible) X 110,000 at a cost of 110,000 vs 70.00 = 7.7 million for a potential net savings of about 27 million. Of course some repaired windshields will still end up replaced so this is the maximum best outcome.
And the great news is this 27 million in savings will lower our premiums. Well, okay, it will go as a dividend to the provincial government who will use it to help pay for healthcare education etc., or Canada day celebrations
Or helicopter ambulance service for the lower mainland,
Just wonder if the chip repair cost will go up now. Seems every time contractor sees government paying, price goes up. Probably be a couple unscrupulous ones that will.
And DF yer right, right in to the caverns of that big white elephant down south! LOL
500 deductible for a windshield?
@Ski51
You mean 820.00 – 200.00 deductible = 620.00 x 110,000 or 68 million dollars. Maximum savings = 60 million dollars
Windshields in Northern BC are deferred savings, eventually it will need to be replaced. But areas in the lower mainland this will result in huge savings (you see most vehicles are in the lower mainland)
After a highway has been sanded and it dries up to the bare pavement there is usually a strip of rocks (sand they call it!) left in the centre. YRB usually waits far too long to deal with those leftover rocks. Inconsiderate drivers pass another vehicle and then cross immediately into the RH lane, peppering the vehicle which they just passed with a hailstorm of rocks. I now have three chips like that directly in my field of vision!
This is a reward for slower *keep to the right* driving!
Dont you wish you had a rocket launcher built into your grill?
This is a small step in the right direction. The Provincial government could save a ton on windshield claims if they forced YRB and Emcon to use sand instead of the large gravel that they throw down now. My windshield was new in September and at $70 a pop to fix chips (not all can be repaired) I already have $980 worth of chips and cracks. Lets call this what it is, a regional tax on Northeners. People in the lower mainland can drive for 20 years without a single chip little own having to replace a windshield. Very unfair.ICBC told me I should leave more room between myself and the vehicles I follow. Funny thing is that 75% of the rocks that hit my truck are from oncoming vehicles. How the hell do you avoid those? ?
I agree, its like they are using 3/4″ crushed on the roads.
“Little own”?
Let alone?
ICBC should mandate to ICBC insurance agents to inspect every vehicle before they issue/sell an insurance policy, because there are far too many pickup trucks on the road where the wheels are protruding past the fenders by many inches, sometimes as much as a foot! They throw gravel all over the place! They usually have no mudflaps either, very bad especially if the vehicle has been modified by raising it and thereby exposing the underside! The agents and ICBC should work together! If a vehicle has been modified to pose a hazard it should be sent to the nearest ICBC claims centre to be inspected!
Sometimes one wonders if ICBC knows what is going on in the real world outside the air conditioned offices!
PrinceGeorge, my understanding is that the Motor Vehicle Act addresses both the issue of “mudflaps” and “protruding wheels”. Enforcing these regulations would reduce the number of windshield claims (in my opinion gopg2015)!
The problem is that the RCMP are far too busy catching speeders, cell phone users and seatbelt violators to have any time left to enforce the many other rules and regulations in the Motor Vehicle Act!
..from the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations:
Mudguards
7.06 Every motor vehicle, trailer and semitrailer not constructed so that the spray and splash of water and mud to the rear of the vehicle is minimized shall be equipped with mudguards and, if necessary, mudflaps.
…more on mudflaps, if you need them, then they must also be effective!
Bumpers, mudflaps
12 A motor vehicle, except a motorcycle, shall be equipped with a front bumper, and where a replacement bumper has been installed, it shall give substantially the same protection as the bumper originally installed by the manufacturer.
A motor vehicle shall be equipped with a rear bumper where the manufacturer of the vehicle installed a bumper, and where a replacement bumper has been installed, it shall give substantially the same protection as the original bumper.
A bumper shall be securely fastened to the vehicle, and the bumper bar or brackets shall not be broken, loose or missing.
A bumper must not have a sharp or ragged edge and must not protrude beyond the side of the vehicle.
Mudflaps — A vehicle must be equipped with mudflaps or mudguards as required by section 7.06 of the regulations, which shall not be damaged or worn to the extent they are not effective.
BC’s Ministry of Transportation and Highways is to be directly blamed for most of the broken windshields. This is due to the fact that their specifications on “traction material” allows the highway contractors to use such large gravel.
The specified material size (as by govt regulation) in BC is allowed to be just a fraction under 3/4″… I am surprised that more people are not experiencing rocks which bust right through the windshields.
“to use sand instead of the large gravel that they throw down now”
In fact, sand doesn’t provide the traction needed on a highway, and gets blown off very quickly. The people who work with this stuff every day (like YRB) actually know what they are doing, and have access to lots of research, data, and experience to base their decisions on. The coarser stuff is more expensive than sand too, so it is not a matter of cheapness.
The people who pull in front too soon, even with no traffic coming, we could do without.
That is a healthy load of fertilizer you put out there “chuck”.
First off, sand works just fine for traction if it is applied right. The coarse material simply allows them to plow less frequently while still keeping traction.
Next, sand only gets “blown off” of a dry clear highway. Moist sand stays on a road very well. The larger gravel travels quite a bit (thanks to mass and diameter) and quite often gets stuck between the treads of tires and becomes a projectile.
One more point to refute… sand is far more expensive than the larger sized “fractured rock” that they are being allowed to use. The Ministry of Highways and Transportation has kept allowing the regulated size of the material to keep growing (contract after contract) due to pressure from the contractors because sand is too expensive.
Simple fact, it takes more time to crush and stockpile sand than it does to make gravel…yet when properly appied, sand last longer and is more effective (also less damaging to the travelling vehicles).
Nice try though Chuck @YRB?
Watchdog I remember very well when they used sand. Its true, it blew off right away. I don’t know how you put wet sand on the road at -20 or more. It would freeze up all the equipment of the sanders. Even then, once it is disturbed, its gone. That is why they went to bigger stuff.
Everybody was complaining about it before they switched. It was good for the first few vehicles and then there was none left. On the open road, all it took was one or two chip trucks and it was all gone.
That’s big of them considering the amount of hikes they do for their ‘management team’ and the constant hiking of insurance, even if you do have a good driving abstract.
Why did they stop the practice? They paid for rock chip repairs for the longest time and then stopped. Were the glass companies starting to scam the system?
I thought this used to exist. If I remember correctly, they paid for a maximum of two chips. After that you paid the deductible for a new windshield.
“Were the glass companies starting to scam the system?”
Yes. Once they ended the program the price dropped.
Sunset Glass – Rock Chip repairs – $10.00
“Rock Chip repairs – $10.00”
Watch for a large increase when this program comes into effect.
On My Prince George, it says if we buy optional comprehensive insurance. 250 makes no mention of this
“Starting this spring, anyone who buys optional comprehensive coverage from ICBC can get a chip in their windshield repaired free of charge.”
Really ??/ a chip???
Yep a chip, cracks start as a chip. Without comprehensive you have no glass coverage thus you cannot get ICBC to replace your windshield or fix a chip for any price, it is on your dime.
Comprehensive used to be sold as “fire, theft and glass” insurance.
Yes Stillsmokin…you still have to buy the comprehensive coverage, which of course is optional unless your bank or finance company insists that you carry full collision and comprehensive insurance. You can’t get windshield coverage without having comprehensive.
ICBC should finance the road maintenance contractors for the production of manufactured sand.The use of this sand should nearly eliminate the costs for glass replacement as well it would make for safer highways as it does not blow away as easily. If you take notice of the traction material (sand) that is used at the airport you will see manufactured sand. It is used on the airport runway for traction. It is heavy enough to ensure it is not sucked up into the jet engines but still provides safe traction for aircraft.Manufactured sand is about 3/16 inch in size with 100% fracture meaning there are no smooth surfaces as it is processed thru a crushing plant using blasted rock as a feed stock. The drawback in using manufactured sand as a winter traction material is the cost. This is where ICBC should step in. We would have safer and better traction and no glass breakage.
Aren’t election campaigns wonderful?
ITS ALL ABOUT THE BOTTOM LINE.THE LESS THEY DO THE MORE THEY MAKE
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