Thursday, March 28, 2024

ICBC files application to increase basic insurance rates by 6.3%

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This Friday, the Insurance Corporation of BC (ICBC) is applying for a 6.3% increase to basic insurance rates effective April 2019, after projecting a net loss of $890 million for its current fiscal year.

The crown corporation blames the “escalating cost of injury claims” as the main reason for the rate change, stating that injury claims have “soared by 43 per cent in just five years”.

“The announcement today would have been almost a 40% increase,” said Attorney General David Eby in response.

“Our government has taken on the difficult work of fixing the problems left behind at ICBC, including implementing the very solutions the old government was told could have prevented this mess.”

The current administration has been criticized by the opposing BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson, who advocates a complete overhaul of the 45-year-old “state-owned monopoly”.

“Today’s rate increase shows that no matter how much David Eby and the NDP try to blame others for the situation at ICBC, British Columbians are the ones paying the price and that is not fair,” said Wilkinson.

The cost of optional insurance is still to be revealed, but to meet the NDP’s budget targets there would have to be an increase of 14 per cent to that rate, something the NDP has decided to try to hide from the public.”

ICBC’s application will go into effect on April 1st, 2019 if approved, and each personal customers’ basic insurance coverage will increase by almost $60 more on average.

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Brishti Basu
Former Senior Staff Writer and Content Manager at Victoria Buzz.

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