Upset vehicle owners have route to lodge ICBC complaints

B.C.’s Ombudsperson is reminding vehicle owners that his office can investigate complaints about ICBC if drivers feel they are not being treated fairly.

Jay Chalke is advising owners to take a close look at their next insurance policy to ensure the information being used to determine their renewal rate, such as accident history, is accurate.

“We recommend that vehicle owners try to solve their problems directly with ICBC and its agents first, but if they still believe they have been treated unfairly, our investigators may be able to look more closely at individual complaints,” Chalke said.

ICBC’s new driver-based rate model — which starts Sept. 1 — assesses premiums based on a driver’s 10-year driving history, and crashes will now follow the driver, not the vehicle.

ICBC maintains the changes are meant to reward safe drivers and to hold drivers with at-fault crashes and serious driving convictions accountable.

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“This is a major overhaul of how insurance premiums are calculated,” Chalke said. “ICBC has indicated that under the new scheme some insurance rates will go up, others down. As ICBC implements this new scheme, it is important that ICBC treats customers fairly, which includes accurately calculating how the new rate scheme is being applied in individual circumstances and explaining that calculation to policy holders.”

ICBC has added an online rate estimator to its website, available here.

The rate roll-out will happen over the next year as vehicle owners renew their insurance policy or purchase a new policy.

The B.C. Ombudsperson receives 7,000 to 8,000 complaints and inquires from the public each year, and ICBC is the top non-government organization that people complain to the office about.