By CRM Staff
Vancouver, British Columbia — February 1, 2018 — The recently installed NDP government has ruled out the possibility of passing legislation on no-fault insurance in the province and will ignore calls for a liberalizing of the province’s auto insurance sector.
When provincial Attorney General David Eby spoke about revelations that B.C.’s ICBC had lost $1.3 billion in 2017, he did not mince his words. He described the corporation’s books as a “financial dumpster fire,” one he suggested was entirely the fault of the corporation’s executives and the recently overthrown Liberal government. After a week of ambiguity regarding the NDP’s plan to manage the situation, the government has made their strategy plain.
Instead, ICBC will raise its rates by $400-per-head in order to cover the $1.3 billion loss last year, with much of the cost to be borne by owners of luxury automobiles.
For collision repair shops, the news is somewhat positive. Rather than attempting to limit the amount to be spent on repairs, the government has announced it will be putting limits on personal injury claims. Last week, there had been rumours that the government intended to prevent luxury cars from being insured. Now owners and repairers can rest easy knowing that, going forward, the cost of these profitable repairs will still be carried by the ICBC.
