ICBC Rates Expected to Rise
Tuesday, September 5, 2017 @ 5:59 AM
Prince George, B.C. – Attorney General David Eby will be making an announcement later today, one that will outline the details on a boost to ICBC rates.
Rates for both basic and optional insurance with ICBC are expected to be increased as ICBC is facing financial challenges.
The details on how much those rates will be boosted will be unveiled by Eby this afternoon
Comments
Only because to government keeps robbing them to throw money into the coffers.
Or maybe it is only because ICBC keeps funding such safety projects as intersection improvements.
I think that should be a municipal and provincial responsibility ….. except they may not do it.
true, but they will never admit it or they would not be able to raise our rates.
False, the amount of the dividend is less than the amount required to keep up with rising claim costs thus the need for increase every year. The Liberals did not take a dividend last year thus ICBC had more cash but still not enough to cover rising claim costs. ICBC rates could be frozen but that would require them to go into debt now because the Liberals took away the 150-200 million cushion Horgy had to make everyone feel warm and fuzzy if he froze rates now.
ICBC has $15 Billion in investments mainly in Federal, Provincial, and Municipal Bonds. Money for the investments comes from premiums. Interest from the investments helps to keep (supposedly) premiums lower.
One would think that they could sell off some of their investments to pay down some debt, and keep the premiums where they are, however this does not seem to be an option.
So even if they are swimming in money, we have to pay higher premiums to keep them afloat.
These are all Government rules and regulations that allow Governments and Government entities to take us to the cleaners on a regular basis. To make matters worse ICBC has been paying the Government a dividend each year somewhere in the area of $400 Million,.
Seems cost are increasing because of more accidents and claims payouts.
ICBC like most Governments and Government entities needs to be audited by an outside independent auditor so that we can get the real picture as to what is going on. That of course will never happen.
Joe and Jane taxpayer will continue to groan and whine while they do nothing about these problems.
ICBC doesn’t have debt, they have funded and unfounded liabilities in the form of claims making their way through the court system from past years. The increase to these liabilities is in the tune of 500 milllion annually as costs to repair vehicles and the costs of claims go up
“ICBC has $15 Billion in investments mainly in Federal, Provincial, and Municipal Bonds”
So do all insurance companies whether private or public. WorkSafe works in the same way.
Slinky has it right. The investments cover liabilities. One cannot rely on paying accounts payable from current revenues.
Some people might think that an actuary is an Australian flightless bird:D
yeahhh these are all left over remnants of Krusty
Bull! What colour is the sky in your world? Since day one when private insurance ended and a gov’t formed this branch it was nothing but a tax grab by the Gov’t. It should be separated in regions, as I would think that we are supporting the major population down south. I could be wrong, but I think there is some truth to this.
Your insurance does have different rates depending on your region of the province. Think they refer to them as territories, they always ask me if my main use will be within the area of PG on my business use
Heck, ICBC rates rise every year, so this is no surprise. It’s called “climate change”, and snow in the lower mainland every winter now,plus all the idiots that don’t feel they need winter tires, plus the lack of enough equipment to get the streets cleared and/or salted and sanded in time, means lots of accidents, and year after year, we pay for it. Of course, then there’s all the damaged stolen vehicles, the personal injury claims, huge employee salaries etc etc etc. Financial challenges? What’s new?
Part of the problem cars have become very expensive to repair. All those sensors and electronics, very expensive. Airbags, 3 to 5 thousand or more if they go off. A lot of vehicles get written off with only light damage but the airbags push cost over the vehicle value.
Just price out replacement cost for a headlight.
That’s a big part of it.
Another reason is distracted driving. Hands-free makes no difference when it comes to distraction, it’s something about how the conversation takes place that deflects attention from driving, unlike conversation with the person next to you or by two way radio. I experienced this myself when I had a cell phone in my vehicle for business purposes, and a recent study came to the same conclusion.
Worse yet are those who text while driving!
Distracted driving now accounts for more accidents than impaired driving.
Actually the BC Government white paper on distracted driving concluded that the distraction from hand held phones, and hands-free phones was the same. Even though the distraction was the same they only passed legislation to restrict hand held devices. Why would they not make both illegal.???
Distracted driving now accounts for more accidents than impaired driving.
One simple reason is that 20 years ago there was no such thing as “distracted driving”.
It was driving with “undo care and attention”. Maybe even “reckless driving”.
Do you have the comparative figures for that?
The higher rates are a small piece of the ICBC issue. Why do people still think a monopoly will be competitive?
The real issue is only known to folks who have suffered a traffic injury or know someone who has. No exaggeration – ICBC not only will gladly let you starve, they want you to suffer so you will take a lower settlement. This is the quickest route from being a productive citizen to drug-addicted living on the street.
Let me buy my auto insurance from the company of my choice!
I did the private insurance instead of ICBC, ( not including basic) and ICBC was cheaper. ICBC has it all figured out…
I still liked the old way where you could shop around for the basic insurance then go from there. Long time ago unfortunately. My basic keeps on shooting up and I have a clean driver abstract. You have no choice but to get the icbc basic, and this is the sad part. For my motorcycle I go through a better more comprehensive package and would not even touch the astronomical rates that icbc ‘offers,!
Yes you love the old way. You probably were not around when ICBC was formed. One of the big problems its a cash cow for the auto body industry. I had a back ender at 15th and Ospika. ICBC estimated the cost at $1500.00. The final bill too ICBC was $3200.00.
And the then there are the bad driving habits that add to the cost. But I guess to you that wouldn’t be a factor or the matter of Christy Crunch using it for a bank.
Cheers
Well, I am old enough buddy! When ya get to be the mid sixties you can remember things like this! When I lived in Vancouver I remember going to various insurance companies to insure my 53 Pontiac and my motorcycle. I was in my teens, but I was old enough to drive. You are probably one of those guys that assume, and I guess you know where that puts you? LOL! Stick to what you know. As if that dip Hoagy is going to be any different!
Hoagy’s predecessors started the process to use crown corporations as banks in order to make some attempt at balancing the budget which they never could. But that is just water under the Port Mann bridge now thanks to Horgan’s Heroes. I thought they were going to “freeze” ICBC rates as a platform promise
Don’t forget what’s next..
Icbc will ask for say %8 increase.. but our most caring gov will step in and say.. no that’s to high.. then lower it to %5.3 and strut around like heros… happens every time every gov… ( numbers are just a guess btw)
Its a combination: CC drained the coffers to fund other things or to balance the budget….and its all those Chinese, East Indian etc new drivers….they can’t drive worth a s*&t and all I see at motor vehicle accident scenes in the lower mainland are them! Get off the friggen road. ;)
SO I bet the first thing out of your mouth is “I don’t want to sound like a racist but…..”
There are crappy drivers of all colors and ethnicities. Calling out a race or 2 as the big issue is just dumb.
How about the fact that it’s not unusual to pay 70 to 100 grand for a pickup now. You put a dent in the box and it’s literally thousands to repair.
Oh STFU. The stats in the lower mainland show it. Of course there are bad drivers of all ethnicity but there is by far a higher proportion in my aforementioned post. Yes I am of the opinion that a mastery of the English language should be a condition of obtaining a DL in BC. If you cannot read the signs you cannot understand them therefore you are a liability in a motor vehicle on the road. I review MV6020’s for the OSMV and I know.
Damned straight on that one! Can’t speak english or at least are not well versed in it, yet they can drive? Just my observations as this applies to everybody.
I that you cant think English. You were not around when ICBC was Created. Your big problem is Christy Crunch. It seems it doesn’t matter what the NDP does it would not be in your best interest. You money grubbers all think in in the same vein we need more profit.
Cheers
Hogwash, even when CC as you put it didn’t take anything from ICBC last year they had over 2 billion in surplus – which I remember when reported on before the election the estimate was to be 1.5 billion NDP claimed hogwash.
Back in 1996 BC Hydro had to borrow to pay its dividend to the NDP coffers and ICBC did not need to. If you look at the rising claim costs per year any educated person who can read a balance sheet can see that stopping the dividend is only a cure for one year as the increase will eat that up the very next year. Now the NDP can’t freeze rates because the Liberals took that one year away by not taking the dividend last year.
And then you have the placement of cement blocks with a space between them making it very dangerous for drivers. Someone ran into all the marker posts the other night scattering them all over the place and it is my understanding someone hit the cement blocks this morning and ended up in the ditch on the opposite side of the road.
So you’re saying the cement blocks are to blame for someone’s inability to stay in their clearly marked lane? Interesting.
Its called an accident. Did you ever have one? I guess what your trying to say we do not need a handrail on the steps just because you cannot keep balance.
An accident? You were clearly blaming the cement barriers for this incident.
axman what I am saying the cement barrier that they have installed should not have a space between them. I do not think that this is even legal. If they are trying to protect the workers on the opposite side then the blocks should be tight and locked together. The way it is now a vehicle could pass between the blocks and injure a worker or workers.
If someone hits the dividers with all the signage saying the speed limit is 50k and orange markers and traffic cones out the ying yang then they should hand their drivers license in. There is even a speed board that flashes when you are speeding although it was not active this weekend.
Driving well above the posted limit was the most likely cause- going 80 or 90 k like they normally would through this stretch.
The other day one brain dead poster actually said if a soccer mom turned around while driving to stop the kids in the back from fighting and drifted out of the lane and hit the no post it would be the blocks fault. What? Would that be a valid excuse if they ran over a flag person or a pedestrian?
sparrow by the sound of it you also think that a handrail on steps is not needed. No need to make things safer. The vehicle that hit the barrier this morning may have just rubbed the barrier and may not have lost control if there was no spacing between barrier blocks. Like yourself some people cannot see a safety issue before there is one.
A handrail is not worth a damn if you are running down the stairs and traffic control features are useless if you are driving above the posted limit or distracted while driving.
If people pay attention and do 50k that stretch of Foothills is perfectly safe.
Forgot to mention foothills.
I think an issue worth discussing is the impact of ambulance chasing personal injury lawyers who jack up accident claims which costs every motorist in this province money in the end. I get that ICBC has lawyers whose sole job is to minimize the effect of the injury claim on ICBC’s bottom line but it’s getting a little ridiculous. IMHO.
The consultants we paid to look into this problem gave two solutions – bring back photo radar – because apparently it actually worked. The other was no fault insurance which would pretty much wipe out half the legal profession. The NDP rejected both out of hand – and I don’t blame them. No one is getting reelected if they bring back photo radar.
So, we can just continue to pay, people’s lives can continue to be destroyed, because the solution is politically unpalatable. We are all crappy drivers and as long as there is ineffective traffic enforcement, nothing will change.
I thought it was going to be all wine and roses once the ndp got a hold of the reins of power. In a matter of a couple of week they have almost burned through the $3 billion surplus they were handed and put the Port Mann on the charge card.
I fear insurance rate increases are just the tip of the iceberg of what they have in store for us.
Didn’t they campaign on freezing ICBC rates for a few years?
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