Polar Bear

I was so shocked at the cost of vehicle insurance here in BC that I nearly took a flight straight back to the UK.

I've calculated that vehicle insurance is three times what I paid in the UK. I'm confused as to why it's so high? here in BC we enjoy lower autotheft and statistically less accidents than the UK. I've heard that if you're unfortunate enough to have a blame worthy accident, you may have to pay the costs of the claim back to ICBC.
Has anybody had any luck reducing vehicle insurance to an acceptable level?

R I C H

Do you use an alternative insurer for the option element? Canadian Direct have worked out roughly 50% cheaper for me. I guess I'm still paying double what I paid in the UK, but the value of my vehicles are considerably more here.

ICBC only take $50 or so p/mth for each of my cars, which isn't so bad.

Almost Canadian

But B.C. residents don't get much snow and the scenery is so nice

The4BellsLondon

How does that bit work??

R I C H

Just take basic coverage from ICBC, and the optional stuff from a company such as Canadian Direct. It's often far cheaper, and you've more scope to tailor your premiums to suit your pocket or desired coverage/level of risk.

http://www.canadiandirect.com/Auto/Bc.aspx

JonboyE

There are private insurers that offer competitive rates to people with a good driving records. Canadian Direct, BCAA and Coast Capital are three. However, they only offer the optional insurances. You might save a few hundred bucks a year on this.

[edit: I'm not quick enough.]

For basic insurance you are stuck with ICBC. The only thing you can do to reduce the cost is to get them confirmation from your UK insurer (in the form that ICBC want) that you have had x number of years at-fault accident free driving. Otherwise drive carefully and the premiums do drop over time if you do not have a claim. At the moment they drop 5% for each claim free year.

If you do have a small fender-bender where you are at fault you can chose to pay the cost of the repairs instead of claiming on your insurance. This can be preferable to losing your no-claims discount.

Polar Bear

tried doing this when we arrived but was not eligible until we'd held our licences for a longer period of time. I will however look into that again as we've had our BC licences for almost two years now. Thank you for the help

TrishP

Think you have it bad in BC? You should try Ontario ... car insurance here costs 4 figures!

printer

Not bad for the youngsters though, they get a better deal than their UK counterparts generally speaking.
My youngest (18) is driving a 2.5 V6 Probe and my eldest (20) is driving a 5.7 V8 truck and both can afford the insurance. I'm guessing that they would be limited to a 1 ltr Nova or similar in UK for probably more money.

CanadaJimmy

I do find ICBC confusing, being that it's publicly owned. Health Insurance BC is publicly owned because it offers some clear advantages, one being that everyone pays the same premium. With ICBC, there are no real "fairness" advantages such as that to speak of. It's not like you pay more MSP if you go bungee jumping, so it would make sense if they made it so everyone paid the same. It would still be daft though and I do think private companies are usually a better option, providing there's sufficient competition and lack of price fixing.

JonboyE

It is a different kind of rating. Everybody starts off at the same level so the premium you pay ends up being based on your driving record, and you are not lumped into a rate class. In this sense it is fairer. In the UK the premiums for young drivers can be prohibitive, but why should a young but careful driver have to pay several thousands on pounds a year, or even be priced off the road, just because others are idiots?

Insurance is just as expensive in the provinces that have private insurance providers. The private insurers in BC are cheaper for optional insurance but then they get to cherry pick their customers. It is easy to be cheap if you only insure drivers that don't make claims.

My beef with ICBC is not so much with insurance premiums, but with the quasi judicial function it has as an arm of the state. For example, it is the people at ICBC that get to decide if someone on a TWP needs a BC license. However, their front line people just don't seem to have the training necessary to make an appropriate determination and you can get two completely different answers to the same question from two different offices - or even two different people within the same office. This is a particular worry because ...

There is an attitude amongst ICBC staff that as they are a quasi judicial arm of the state they can't be wrong. Even when they are wrong they will prove they are not wrong. They play the "can you afford to challenge our high priced lawyers?" game too often. Particularly so when they have to defend the indefensible.

Alan2005

Either it's a tax, or it's insurance. Currently it's some half way mish mash.

ICBC's remit should be limited to determining the requirements that insurance should meet rather than selling it. The cover could easily be provided by agents on the open market who will do a more efficient job than ICBC. Same goes for booze and gambling for that matter; why the province is involved in these things I've no idea.

JonboyE

Cash?

Alan2005

Sure, but they could easily get more cash from licensing and taxing those industries than they do from the current unaccountable inefficient state ran bureaucracies.

JonboyE

No argument from me.

There is also a political function. Just before the 2001 election ICBC suddenly found they had made loads of money. They sent everyone a $100 rebate on their premiums. "Look how well we run ICBC," claimed the hugely unpopular NDP government, "just like we run the rest of the economy."