mattskivan

Hey folks, I finally moved to Vancouver with my wife (who's on here somewhere, forget her username...) a few months ago. I've got (had?) a full UK A-class motorcycle license, and I've swapped my UK license for a BC one with the endorsement. So far, so good.

I'm a little unclear about the driving experience documentation situation here though: I've got 4 years claim-free motorcycling, and 8 years claim-free driving time, with the paperwork from the insurers as per the ICBC spec. After speaking to a rep, it seems that the driving experience would be valid for claiming discount on a motorcycle policy, as opposed to the UK where car NCD only applies to a car policy and so on. Is anyone able to confirm or clarify this? Any info hugely appreciated!

Aviator

A bit risky forgetting your wife's name!

The ICBC driver discount applies to the main driver, not the vehicle. If you get 43% discount as an example, it is on all vehicles you are main driver. You should be getting the 8 years you have held a full license, if you have the proper documentation. https://www.hubinternational.com/en-...bia/vancouver/
For MC I use ICBC for liability and Intact for the private comp and collision. For the car, ICBC for liability and private for Comp and Collision. To get private, you need to have held a full MC license for 5 years (or 10 years total driving experience) and a car for 10 years. For some insurers, this is North American experience, for some it is total experience. I save $1000 a year on my MC by using private for Comp/Collision. With MC insurance the value is declared value, not market value like a car.
Worth calling Megson Fitzpatrick on the island. They are very helpful. I do mine with them by phone and fax for private and go into Hub Barton for ICBC. Hub offer Beacon private insurance, which is not bad, but for us won't work as it does not cover rodent damage. The last rat attack was a $5000 bill, thankfully all but $500 was paid by insurance.

mattskivan

Thanks for the info, Aviator! That's a bit mind-blowing - being able to use my car driving time to get a discounted rate on a bike; still, not gonna question it too loudly..

Aviator

Best to consult an autoplan broker to get a quote and confirmation of your discount.

mattskivan

True 'nuff; I already spoke with a rep to get the numbers, I was just amazed that I could use my car experience to get a discount on a bike. What a time to be alive!

Aviator

As a fairly new rider, in a new country, maybe consider doing some training. If you do a safety course, you may be able to get private MC insurance after 5 years of total driving experience, doing a course will get you 10% discount and if you belong to a MC club, another 10%, e.g. Greater Vancouver Motorcycle Club Ask your broker about the discounts and if you qualify. If you are in Vancouver, Pacific Riding School https://www.pacificridingschool.com/
The savings may cover the cost of the course, plus the valuable tuition.

Brooks52

We're just starting to get our documents together now before we move in July. Did you use the templates on the Wiki or something else? The templates on the Wiki seem a bit outdated, they are from 2008 and are letter format and request faxes etc.

Rete

See your other post on the other thread. Sioux answered your question there.

mattskivan

I got really lucky, all my NCD letters stated the start and end dates and the number of claims made in each one (zero!) so I never needed to use the templates. The ICBC site had enough info to work with:, but I can't post the URL. Just Google "ICBC no claims letter" and the one you want is the new and returning residents page. Hope that helps!

R I C H

Don't assume faxes aren't still used in the workplace - I worked for a company with 400+ employees, and only 20 had a business email address. The fax was still king.

Siouxie

No need. It's in the wiki and also on my response to Brooke52's other post
ICBC policy change

scrubbedexpat091

My last job a fax was used daily many times.

In the hotel industry faxes are used a lot too, hotels don't feel comfortable sending sensitive info via email.

BC government agencies love the fax, none I deal with will accept emails, but they will all accept a fax.