Andy Brass

Hi,
I have a car insured in Ontario, if I move to BC how does the insurance work (I heard that car insurance is done through the government somehow...)?

R I C H

http://www.icbc.com/autoplan/autoplan-work should answer all your questions. If you want more than basic coverage from ICBC, shop around with companies like Canadian Direct . Buying the optional element from a private company should save you several hundred dollars.

castra

In good old Communist styley, you have to insure your vehicle through the Provincial governments ICBC insurance agency. No 'shopping around' for the best deal. Pay what the ICBC guru's think they can milk you for & like it. You have two choices - Take it or live somewhere else. It ain't cheap. B.C. = bring cash.

Welcome to the wacky world of BC.

ukcanuck

For those in BC how many use other companies other than icky bicky for the extra insurances and what are your experiences?

Is it easier for expats to get a lower premium as we are having a hell of a time with tesco getting a letter that satisfies ICBC for the OH!!!!

Who did you use??

Every dollar in my pocket is better than in the govt pocket!!

Cheers

Psyched

We downloaded the ICBC template letters to send to UK insurers. The UK lot still got things wrong as failed to state dates policy began and ended, as UK fixed on how many years total NCB. I did hope they'd still do the job though!

Since been informed that at least the Month and Year (start and end dates of policy) are required. That was just before being hit with an insurance bill for $1819 for SIX MONTHS

and before anyone asks about vehicle type/cost being influential a fellow recent arrival here got hit for the same amount of insurance which exceeded the value they paid for the vehicle in the first place

Now i plan to reapproach UK insurers and be super explicit with what i need.

Yelkcub

Good luck! The UK ones we have approached are completely useless with the exception of:

Morethan
Diamond

Admiral which is the same group as Diamond) sent a standard NCB letter to my previous-previous address which was forwarded fortunately as I still own the property - going to try and call them on Canada Day as I won't be at work and they will be.

Hopefully we can get these back soon . The lady we bought the insurance via told me that we have to get our reclaim submitted within 6 months of taking the policy out (you also need a BC lincense) otherwise you can't get a refund!

Good luck

Yelkcub

R I C H

I use Canadian Direct. They've always been very efficient, calls to them are dealt quickly and I'd happily recommend them. They offer multi-car discounts, home and travel insurance too. It saves me about $600 p/yr between 2 vehicles using CD rather than ICBC for the comprehensive policy element.

Aviator

We use ICBC for all our insurance. The savings with third party insurers were negligible for our vehicles and the prospect of dealing with two adjusters in the event of a claim was not appealing.

With ICBC though I have found admit to nothing, deny everything and never mention you changed lanes, even if an incident was not your fault!!