ICBC Rate Increases Announced
Tuesday, September 5, 2017 @ 1:12 PM
Prince George, B.C. – The Provincial Government says it is taking drastic measures to address the “financial crisis” ICBC is facing.
Attorney General David Eby says ICBC is applying for a 6.4% increase in basic rates, or $57 dollars a year for the average driver.
Optional insurance will increase by 3.1% November 1st, and a further 2.2% in each of the following quarters until the increase reaches 9.6% .
Those who purchase blended insurance ( basic plus optional) can expect to pay an extra $130 a year.
Eby says ICBC has lost half a billion dollars over the past year. He says even with the increases announced today, ICBC still expects to lose nearly $400 million next year.
Comments
Thanks for this Clark..and every other premier else who has abused the icbc coffers..
The NDP brought in ICBC and scoffed at the claims that it was just going to be a cash cow! Guess what? It has been just that since the day it started up! BTW, BCRail was a cash cow too, together with BCHydro! Not one government has resisted the urge to get ever more cash from the cow because it is the government itself that sets the rates! Irresistible opportunity without any competition!
I AM SO ANGRY ABOUT THIS!!
WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BEND OVER AND TAKE IT?
I WANT OPTIONS!!
DAM THEM!!
Say what? Everything is supposed to be free under an NDP government isn’t it? We were promised rainbows and unicorns and unlimited wealth. Come on Horgan, start shaking that magical money tree instead of shaking down the taxpayer.
No, it isn’t. As is constantly being stated, nothing is free. You may expect rainbows, unicorns and unlimited wealth in your dreams, but the excesses of the previous government have driven ICBC into the ground and it is now time to pay the piper, like it or not. You want responbsible government, this is it!
Give it up! I remember when the NDP had just two seats (2) after getting tossed out of office by angry voters who could not take it any longer!
Responsible government? What are you smoking? Seriously, a responsible government would not have removed the tolls from the Port Mann and Golden Ears Bridges and then turn around and say they need to raise a quick Billion.
What on earth has the election results from 16 years ago got to do with ICBC in 2017? There’s a whole new generation that has grown up since then. Live in the present, not the past. Deal with ICBNC’s problems today not some of your fond gratifications from almost two decades ago.
Mind you, I suppose if you can’t counter my points, rubbish rant away to try and deflect it!
And Axman, I don’t smoke, not anything, so my mind is clear. A responsible government takes action which benefits the province and its citizens. In this case it is ICBC’s financial position. Good try at deflecting it onto something else, though, by changing the subject to some other subject which has nothing to do with ICBC. Just another righty deflection, I suppose.
Do you need a wake up call. You don’t seem to realize that the cost of living has gone up and that includes insurance. Just go and rant to mister Weston and see if the grocery prices can be reduced to your liking
Cheers
As usual, you make absolutely no sense.
ammonra, you say the NDP is responsible government and I showed you otherwise. That has nothing to do with left, right or center.
The only sure thing in life is death and taxes
Your heroes have robbed a billion dollars from ICBC over the last six years axman. Maybe you and your pals should start shaking your money trees?
Read the article, ICBC has additional claim costs of 500 million a year. The dividend which was not taken last year averaged 150-200 million a year. Only half the claim costs increase. Stop the dividend and you have only 250 million loss (additional claim costs) for the year. The next year you have 500 million again. Compounding issues are something no government can get a grip on. If you have a increase in claim costs every year you then run into a increase in premiums every year
The NDP will once again pursue no fault insurance to balance ICBCs books much like they tried in the 90s. They say they are not looking at it right now but they also said they would freeze ICBC rates to make them more affordable to BCers for your vote
They should look at all the extras ICBC pays for, don’t believe the loss is a result of accidents its other ministry’s using it as a cash cow for projects ICBC should not pay for in the first place.
I get what you’re saying, but we have a problem in our society in that the pocket that pays for one thing doesn’t benefit by it, but a different pocket does.
So, cities should be building safer intersections, roads etc., but they really only have one tax source, and sadly, the city doesn’t benefit if there are fewer crashes, ICBC and the Health budget does. So, it’s smart actually that ICBC fixes intersections, they save more in claims not paid out than it costs.
But it shouldn’t be that way. What is a smart idea, should be a smart idea, no matter who pays for it.
What will happen to insurance rates when ICBC get through paying for all the burnt out cars in the province after the fires are finished burning them up.
Cheers
I would presume all the private insurance companies are thanking their lucky stars they don’t have to cough up. Think how that would push up private insurance rates.
ammonra, what makes you think that all the private insurance companies are thanking their lucky stars that they don’t have to cough up?
Is there any particular reason why you would make such a statement?
All of my vehicles are insured with the absolute minimum amount of coverage required by law. Everything else, extended liability, fire, theft, vandalism, collision, comprehension, etc. is all covered by private insurance! I would add that not only is it less expensive than ICBC, I receive discounts for each additional vehicle that I insure and I have always received excellent service if and when I have needed to make a claim!
I suspect that it’s extremely likely that there are British Columbians that have suffered losses due to the fire, losses that will be covered by private auto insurance companies! I suspect that they will also receive the excellent service that I have received.
ICBC is much like Air Canada! They care little about customer service because they have no concerns about profitability as a result of Government always being there to bail them out!
oops, I better clarify and correct my statement. When I stated “All of my vehicles are insured with the absolute minimum amount of coverage required by law”, what I meant to say is that “All of my vehicles are insured with ICBC for only the absolute amount of ICBC coverage required by law.”
Hart guy, when did govt start bailing out ICBC? The govt has taken a billion dollars from them over the past 6 yrs.
From NDP election platform. ht tps://www.bcndp.ca/affordability
Freezing or reducing rates and fees
John Horgan’s BC NDP will make ICBC, BC Hydro and BC Ferries work for you by freezing rates and rolling back fares and tolls.
Maybe freeze means something different in Victoria.
Anyhow, a politician broke a promise – what else is new. Good to see though he kept the promise that benefits the lower mainland.
Je did freeze things. The economy for example..
Perhaps we need to get rid of legislation that makes ICBC and BC Hydro contribute to general revenue, even when they are losing money. It was put in place to avoid raises taxes, but it’s a tax, nonetheless.
A regressive tax, at that. Both the wealthy and not so wealthy will pay the increases. This is the tip of the iceberg, wait until you hear how bad the books are at BC Hydro.
But then we wouldn’t have the lowest personal taxes in Canada. Another liberal scam.
It was a NDP scam started in the mid 90s requiring all crown corps to pay BC a dividend. It allowed them to remove another revenue stream elsewhere which once removed is gone forever. Once you change how government gets its revenue it is very hard to reverse the policy without going into debt. Back then there was balanced budget legislation on the books so Campbell had a choice to lower taxes or remove the dividends. Because dividends were not on the forefront although the Liberals kept bringing up that BC Hydro had to borrow money to pay the dividend annually they chose to keep it and the NDP of the time were mum on the subject. Once people started to realize how much the dividend was over 5 year terms and the constant harping on it is when the Liberals decided to wean government off them on a 3 year plan. My guess is the NDP will keep them for the time being and attempt to hush the media on them
What a bunch of dicks! I thought the idiots stated that there was a surplus from the budget speech! But figures are just that, they are meant to be changed and the incompetent gov’t is good at that! I would like to see what the nimrod politicans pay, they are always getting breaks! That title ‘Honourable’ is a huge joke! First responders, firefighters should get that name, not the people elected. ( or sneak into power)
The idiots did say there was a surplus, but the NDP took over from the idiots and are facing reality. Howeverm to be honest, the surplus was in the governemnt budget only, not in ICBC, as you well know. So, good spin at blaming the NDP for the consequences of Liberal mismanagement. Just once I would love to see a neo-rightist accept responsibility for the actions of the parties they support. How refreshing would that be. Fantasyland, I know!
Guess those idiots include the current NDP Minister of Finance who confirmed a 2.7 billion dollar surplus was it? I think they even uncovered a mistake that added another 800 million to the surplus. That aside they did it without taking a dividend from ICBC in 2016 and promised 3 years of nothing from the crown corporation into the coffers. They also promised to keep the increases to 4.6 percent per year max.
Come election NDP promises to freeze ICBC rates – now they increase them to double what the Liberals were going to raise it after putting their people in the top seats in the first week they took the reigns. Who were they – oh yeah Joy MacPhail and translink’s Cathy McLay…
So recap – NDP starts dividend in mid 1990s because crown corporations need to give back to those they serve, In 1996 BC Hydro is forced to borrow funds to pay the dividend but ICBC takes it out of profit. ICBC needs to raise rates to raise an extra 250 million a year on average for rising claim costs. NDP see an avenue where they can freeze rates for a year by not taking dividend but the Liberals announce in 2016 they will not take dividend from ICBC. That frees up 200 million but because claim costs are rising every year they only have one year saving grace. NDP plunks their hires in and they require 20 percent plus increase they say – but to appease the public the Minister is only going to allow 8-9 percent. Yes the freeze rates idea is tossed out with the bath water now that they have Weaver’s cooperation. Will they stick to the budget and keep their paws out of ICBC coffers for general revenue? We will see come the first budget announcement.
I would cry if it wasn’t so comical – yes my insurance rates will go up 120 bucks a year! Woot woot – thumbs up for Hoagy and his Heroes
Slinky said “That aside they did it without taking a dividend from ICBC in 2016 and promised 3 years of nothing from the crown corporation into the coffers.”
There is nothing left to take, it’s already been took. Thanks for coming though.
They could have taken a dividend as ICBC still runs in the green. Public pressure once the dividend started to be reported in 5 and 10 year figures instead of just the current year (multiply anything by 5 or 10 and it gets bigger and attracts more interest) made the Liberals remove it from the books.
Unfortunately it does appear that Hoagy was planning on using the dividend as a means to freeze rates knowing that the current surplus was 2.7 billion plus he could afford to not take the dividend and have one year of frozen rates. You see the increase in claims annually works out to the same as the dividend so by not taking it for that one year there is no need to cover the increase in claims costs but the next year you are back to square one. Guess the two Horgan’s heroes he planted in ICBC brass didn’t make the cut and now believe the same as the last crew that they replaced did – ICBC needs more revenue. Yay – from a freeze to 120 dollar increase this year, should make a NDP voter proud. Stand up and stick out that chest, and drop the wallet there is more to come
What a warped sense you have
Cheers
huh???
ICBC trending number one at Twitter .
Premier Horgan is doing for his voter base. He is spreading the taxes from the bridge tolls and bad drivers throughout the lower mainland to every part of B.C.
That is probably the issue, people were calling in to CBC radio angrily when they announced the removal of the tolls would be put to mobility pricing. People in Vacouver who voted NDP because of the promise to remove the tolls were peed that they were just transferring the tolls to all drivers and some that own businesses who relished at the idea of removed tolls would now pay more annually than the old system.
This means insurance, gas, anything automotive will increase in tax to raise the funds required to pay the 300-500 million a year for the two bridges that has to come from somewhere. For the first 3 years they were going to pull the legacy fund which has 500 million in it from the Liberals but didn’t think of the rest of the costs – that only covers about half of the money they needed annually. Be prepared for a big hit in carbon tax and anything gas and insurance related after the 3 years are up, maybe even extra taxes on purchasing automobiles.
I agree with folks commenting on here. ICBC has been milked for years. If the cow is running dry, how about stop pulling so much from it!
Oh wait, it’s us the taxpayers that are the cow, and the money all comes from – you guessed it- US.
Properly managed, the surplus from ICBC in years past should have been fully sufficient to fund operations going into the future, even with some going to general revenue.
I am not saying that nothing should ever be taken from ICBC, but they should have had sufficient revenue to put into investments for the future.
It’s time for people with expensive cars and bad driving records to pay their fair share.
It should be noted that the NDP has chosen to fulfill election promises that benefit only those living in the lower mainland, and not those that would benefit ALL people in BC.
How’s that free rent check for Vancouverites going for them I wonder? I’m guessing it goes down pretty smooth.
The Lower Main land provide the most revenue for our government.
Cheers
Time to take a hard look at purchasing the minimum insurance required from ICBC and optional coverage from private insurers.
CC used ICBC as a cash cow. Campbell tried the HST to stick it to the taxpayer. CC was right in her statement of families first. First in line to pay the bill.
HST was better than GST/PST – now would be 10 percent instead of 5%/7%. Businesses could recover the full 12% HST while only 5% is recoverable now which added to the bottom line and freed up cash to put towards new hires – I know mine did. It was a win win for everyone, including an increase in the rebate check to lower income which sure came in handy to everyone I talked to. Vanderzalm stuck it to the province one more time on that one.
Here’s the years and amounts ICBC transferred money to the province as Excess optional capital – in other words, money they said ICBC didn’t need. Just a mere 1.2 billion dollars over 6 years. Now I get it, if not through ICBC, through some other scheme, but let’s be honest about this, government raided the coffers. ICBC wouldn’t be in a mess if it hadn’t of been for all that Excess capital taken out. It’s pretty hard to defend the Liberal government. Hopefully the new gang can resist the urge to stick their hand in the cookie jar.
2,015.00 138,118.00
2,014.00 138,781.00
2,013.00 237,000.00
2,011.00 101,386.00
2,010.00 575,712.00
1,190,997.00
I was in the BC Govt for over 35 years! I have seen the extreme amount of waste and some of the new ‘programs created andcsquashed, hiring, new positions etc. within the ATT-Gen. depts. I can just imagine the other branches and the waste that was done at taxpayer’s expense. Not to mention the minister positions that have been created! They need to streamline the incompetent govt and bring it back to earth. What we need is a neutral branch to pare it down to a manageable size. Probably a pipe dream though!
I wondered what your problem was I guess money Should not be not one of them its just your old grind that still happens to be politics.
Cheers
IM quite sure that your enjoying your inflated Govt. pension
Maybe drivers of BC and every where else in Canada, where premiums are increasing should stop driving like a bunch of maniacs, where it’s pedal to the metal and let’s rely on our brakes and other drivers’ for our safety.
What I find really frustrating is let’s say we all get an epiphany tonight that we’ve been driving like idiots and it’s time to drive responsibly. Tomorrow there isn’t a single accident as everyone obeys the rules of the road, show courtesy to other drivers. It goes on for a week, then a month, then a year. The RCMP find they don’t need any more staff. Hospital emergency rooms are empty, and the big bonus, ICBC suddenly makes a 2 billion dollar profit – and where do you think that money will go?
You guessed it. Back into the government coffers to be used for whatever program they see fit, paid for by the BC drivers.
If you want people to change their behavior, you have to let them keep the reward, not take it away in a dividend to be used for pet projects.
NDP election platform.
Promise: “Getting rid of MSP fees. Promise: John Horgan’s BC NDP will make ICBC, BC Hydro and BC Ferries work for you by freezing rates and rolling back fares and tolls.” Promise: Eliminate MSP premiums…(when?)…
Hmm. So much for that! Got any voter remorse yet?
The reality is that had the BC Government not received those surplus funds from ICBC in the good years, we the taxpayer would have simply paid more in taxes.
No other insurance company in the world uses its profits in prior years to subsidize rates when costs escalate. In private industry when costs go up, rates go up. The prior year’s profits have already been distributed to shareholders either as dividends or retained earnings. Why should ICBC be any different?
It’s you, the Drivers who is at fault, don’t obey any of the Rules we all pay!
And that may be the entire problem. You have an accident you pay through increased insurance rates.
Cheers
It would not surprise me in the least to think these dolts are shopping for the latest speed camera technology and a fleet of vans to put them in to create another revenue stream.
Why not slow down???
“In private industry when costs go up, rates go up. The prior year’s profits have already been distributed to shareholders either as dividends or retained earnings. Why should ICBC be any different?”
Here is the difference:
That is not what the NDP said when it ran with the election promise that ICBC would be different from private insurance! It would be unbelievably cheaper and all the profits would stay with ICBC! The premiums would be just sufficient to pay for claims and the staff. No profit, especially when some people see red when they hear the word Profit The mantra was that the people would no longer be subject to gouging from the private corporations! Premiums would be the lowest in all of Canada! The rest is history.
That’s a whopping $2.50 per week increase on average. Holy cow, how will you survive? If your budget is that tight that $2.50/wk brings out the rage written in comments above, perhaps you need a professional to look over your personal budget.
As I said earlier. ICBC has $15 Billion in investments, mostly in Federal, Provincial, or Municipal Bonds. This money is supposedly there to be used if ICBC has a real bad year, or whatever.
So the real question is:: Why can we not use one or two billion from our investments to pay for the increase in accidents etc, rather than increasing rates.???
Two billion from investments still leaves $13 billion to collect interest for ICBC which in my opinion is way more than they need.
Someone with some intelligence and time on their hands should check this out. Just complaining about the increase and blaming the past or present Government is not going to get any action.
The Government is betting that by the end of September this will no longer be an issue. Governments are fully aware of the short attention span of the average citizen.
Look at page 6 of their 2015 Consolidated Statement of Financial Position
icbc.com/about-icbc/company-info/Documents/Statement-of-financial-info-2015.pdf
Selected Assets
Financial investments = $13,946,347,000
Premiums and other receivables $1,301,648,000
Selected Liabilities
Provision for unpaid claims $9,093,140,000
Unearned premiums $2,210,364,000
Pension and post-retirement benefits = $479,034,000
Premium deficiency = $75,822,000
Premiums and fees received in advance $44,499,000
The bulk of the investment portfolio is to ensure that the claims in progress will be able to be paid by ICBC at the final determination, often by litigation.
I wrote that previously, but perhaps you did not understand it, so I provided the details of that.
If you still do not understand it, then do a bit of research on how the insurance business works.
To compare:
From 2015 annual financial statement of WorksafeBC
Assets include portfolio investments of $13,984,594,000
Liabilities include claims benefits of $11,051,407,000
The ratio of investments to claims liabilities in the Worksafe situation is lower than that of ICBC.
One of the things that could indicate is that ICBC is not as certain of the outcome of their claims as WorkSafeBC is.
Knowing WorkSafeBC and their claims processes, I could see that as being a probable assumption on my part.
You have to forgive them – it has a name – confirmation bias. It means no amount of facts will change a person’s mind once it is made up on a subject – much like Palopu and Site C
Speaking of Worksafe. The NDP is adding to the epmloyees advisor group and changing some key items when it comes to Labour Law. The minister let it slip that he wants people who want to join a union to be able to do so even if encumbered by a non union workplace. Watch the budget and new bills carefully for them to sneak that one in
Ndp thanks!!!,thanks lower mainland for voting them in for a free toll bridge!! Cheerrs!!!support no jobs!# shut doen cit c!!! And trans canada pipeline!!! And add more carbon tax!! Give more to non working canadians!!!
Of course ICBC has coughed up lots of cash for Government! ICBC long ago stopped being the INSURANCE CORPORATION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA and instead it became THE BE EVERYTHING OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
If I get a speeding ticket from the RCMP, ICBC collects the money. Shouldn’t it be the Province of BC or the Motor Vehicle Drivers Licence Department collecting that money?
If I fall behind in child support, ICBC won’t renew my Drivers Licence. If I fall behind in child support payments, shouldn’t it be the Provincial Courts coming after me?
If I want to upgrade my Drivers Licence to a Class 1 or 2 licence, shouldn’t I go to a Provincial Motor Vehicle Drivers Licence Department?
An automobile insurance company should insure drivers and their automobiles. It should not be issuing Drivers Licences/ It should not be withholding a vehicle insurance renewal because a provincial speeding ticket issued by the RCMP has not yet been paid. The City of Vancouver even wanted to have ICBC refuse to renew insurance or a drivers licence if an individual had an unpaid City of Vancouver parking ticket.
ICBC is in bed with all manner of departments and entities and is being used to do the Government’s dirty work! Is it any wonder that the Provincial Government feels entitled to dividends from ICBC?
ICBC is the Department of Motor Vehicles. We get our registration and insurance form the same place. When comparing rates most people forget other provinces pay registration to a different entity than insurance. In Alberta many people drive with insurance but forget to renew their registration, it is a source of extra income for RCMP there (and here if they catch them)
I’m sure the suggestions you make could be implemented, Hart Guy, but that would mean extra work for those entities. Extra work, of course, means extra employees, which means extra costs, which means extra taxes. So, by all means take services from ICBC and give them to someone else. It is after all, your pocket you are recommending the government stick its hands in.
ammonra, what you fail to realize is that all of those entities used to do that work! It wasn’t extra work! The workers in those entities still exist and the size of our public sector just continues to grow and grow and grow! Much of what they used to do has been passed along to ICBC, so those workers now have far less to do and as such they now have far more time to sit around with their thumb up their butts and their hands in our pockets.
Is there a “Motor Vehicle Drivers Licence Department” anywhere in the Province? Under which ministry, and what are its responsibilities, since ICBC currently takes care of all that stuff. Perhaps you think the Province should create a new one, with all the added expense for staff and resources and buildings etc, etc, etc, all paid for from taxpayers’ pockets. Just because something used to be done over 20 years ago, does not mean the government has retained the ability to restore it at the snap of a finger and at no cost. That’s not the real world, not in private companies, nor in public ones.
Just a thought. Since the Liberal government of the last 16 years was so anti-labour wouldn’t they have ensured that nobody was hired to do unnecessary work? Have I been living under a misapprehension, and the Liberals were squandering my hard earned tax dollars employing people when there was no work to be done? My, how incompetent! You have the right to be disgusted with them for wasting your money like that.
“If I fall behind in child support, ICBC won’t renew my Drivers Licence. If I fall behind in child support payments, shouldn’t it be the Provincial Courts coming after me?”
Most provinces take the matter of child support seriously.
BC is simply one of 8 of the 13 jurisdictions that do this.
justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/fl-lf/child-enfant/2001_1/p4_01.html
read the above link.
“Eight jurisdictions have drivers’ licence denial or suspension programs: Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon.”
It’s no wonder Christy bailed and headed for the hills.
She had to give the riding back, it was always the deal to take care of the MLA who had to vacate. He needed a job for the time she was in office, now with Hoagy kicking all the Liberal hires he needs his seat back to earn a living. That is how things work.
To retain power all she had to say was no more tolls, we will take it out of surplus and the lower mainland would be happy. Not Victoria though, you can never make them happy unless BC becomes a wildlife refuge
Bigger trucks more expensive vehicles. I stood beside a truck in the Mall parking lot and couldn’t look over the hood. Tires the size of oil drums and here we are with more then 60 comments because our auto insurance will be increased a few bucks.
And its not so much about insurance rather about rants of how stupid our government is. We as common people have just had the worst government that I have seen fort 16 years.
They have fed the corporation billions of dollars. But that’s OK. You people in Prince George need a wakeup call as you seem to think that you provide our government with all its funding when all youcontribute is 2.7 %
Cheers
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