B.C. NDP promises three-year freeze on car insurance rates

The B.C. NDP is promising to freeze car insurance rates for three years if elected. Leader David Eby announced in Richmond on Thursday, Oct. 8, that an NDP government would freeze ICBC rates for another three years. He spoke in front of a banner that he said would show the difference in insurance rates under an NDP government and a Conservative government. Eby said the B.C. Conservatives, under Leader Lorne Doerkson, would double car insurance costs in B.C.

Eby said ICBC is now breaking even and has provided British Columbians with no increase to basic insurance rates for seven years. He said it matters to young people, business owners and others who depend on a vehicle to know their car insurance costs will stay the same at a time when expenses are rising in many areas, because insurance can be expensive.

Asked what another three-year freeze would cost, Eby said ICBC has “significant reserves” and is in a positive cash-flow position. He said that would let the Crown corporation implement the freeze while also considering higher compensation for serious crashes. In the past, he said, ICBC was uncertain month to month whether it could pay claims already in the system, and there was considerable discussion about the corporation going bankrupt.

The NDP is also targeting a leaked letter from Doerkson. The letter appears to signal that, if the B.C. Conservatives are elected on Oct. 24, they would do away with ICBC’s no-fault insurance, which has led to lower rates. Doerkson calls the NDP’s no-fault ICBC “scheme” and says his party would replace it with a hybrid system.

In the letter, Doerkson says “everything’s on the table,” including opening auto insurance to private competition to bring rates down and restoring what he calls sensible limits on minor-injury claims. Signed by Doerkson, the letter was sent to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, the Law Society of B.C., the Trial Lawyers Association of B.C. and the Canadian Bar Association. It also says people should “get back their right to recover for their serious injuries, and government would get out of the legal profession’s business.”

At an unrelated news conference in Surrey, Doerkson was asked what he meant by “everything’s on the table.” He said the system has to serve two purposes: insurance must be affordable, and people need support after the “horrible moment” of being affected by a car crash. The B.C. Conservatives have called for reforms to ICBC’s no-fault system since 2023. One of the party’s main complaints is that some British Columbians have been unable to get enough compensation after catastrophic or fatal crashes. Doerkson said he has spoken with people who lost a child in a crash and allegedly did not receive enough from ICBC to cover funeral costs.

ICBC’s Enhanced Care, more commonly known as the no-fault insurance system, launched on May 1, 2021. It provides care and recovery benefits to anyone injured in a crash but removes the ability to sue. ICBC says the care-based model “largely removed legal costs from the system” and saved $1.5 billion. The corporation says that has resulted in more affordable rates for customers.

Eby said he knows ICBC’s no-fault system is “not perfect.” When the legislation passed, he said, his government committed to a review after five years, but the review has been delayed by the snap election call. He said major changes will bring problems and challenges that need to be addressed, so the NDP’s rate-freeze projections include room to increase compensation for certain kinds of collisions that people rightly feel have not been properly compensated.

Eby said his government established an all-party committee for the review and committed to re-establishing it if the NDP wins, to hear from British Columbians about their actual experiences with the new system. He said the NDP government also left room in ICBC’s finances to adjust compensation in response to issues that have arisen, even with Thursday’s rate-freeze announcement.