ICBC aims to increase basic rate fairness amid own financial struggles
The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) has pledged to bring about some significant changes with regard to the fairness of its payment structure for basic rates. It will be updating its system so that drivers who are found to have been at fault for multiple crashes will now be paying more than those that have not caused any accidents, or have potentially been involved in just one.
As things currently stand, drivers who have caused crashes may not lose what are known as safe driving discounts. Because of the bureaucratic process that is in place, that necessary adjustment doesn't get made, and drivers with a track record of safety are stuck being lumped into the same payment bracket.
IBC's call to change comes at a time where crashes in BC are very much on the rise. There were a staggering 20,000 more provincial crashes that took place in 2016 than in 2015.
Not only will this move increase fairness among BC drivers, it will presumably bring in extra revenue at a time where ICBC is going through financial struggles. According to investigative work from Global News, the government has allowed an annual structural deficit of around $400-$500 million to become institutionalized in ICBC. Close to $1.5 billion will be required over the next three years to make up the shortfall.
The only answers out there to this situation seems to be to either double down on government subsidies or to bring in extra revenue through rate hikes—while hopefully continuing to keep safe drivers' costs low. That process has already begun to a certain extent, with ICBC also having increased distracted driving penalties, taken steps to prevent fraudulent and exaggerated claims, and doubled basic premiums on vehicles worth more than $150,000.