Cash for the Furnace: Insurance bureau says ICBC on track to lose $298 million this year

Vancouver, British Columbia — The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) reported Friday that British Columbia’s crown insurance company is on track to record a financial loss of $298 million for this year.

Vice president of IBC’s western and Pacific regions, Aaron Sutherland, called this update from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) “incredibly disappointing” and said that taxpayers will likely face the brunt of this poor performance.

Sutherland’s chief complaint with ICBC is that in spite of recent changes made by the insurer, such as the no-fault claims system designed to streamline processes and save money, the corporation continues to bleed financially.

“After years of financial turmoil, the introduction of no-fault was supposed to help stabilize ICBC’s financial situation by eliminating the right to sue in most cases and introducing strict limits on the care and recovery benefits it provides. As a result, the first year of no-fault saw ICBC spend 30 percent less helping accident victims recover from their injuries. Despite this, ICBC is once again forecasting a financial loss,” he said.

The corporation recently drew criticism from IBC earlier in November, when the national insurance advocate called ICBC out for allegedly having offered fewer payouts to customers since the implementation of the “Enhanced Care” no-fault system, despite an overall increase in collision frequency.

At the time, Sutherland told The Daily Hive that “the reduction in care and recovery benefits illustrates the painful truth about ICBC’s no-fault model, and those injured are suffering the consequences.”

Since the adoption of Enhanced Care, ICBC’s Injury claim payouts in 2021/22 fell to $1.482 billion, according to ICBC’s 2021/22 Annual Service Plan report.

Prior to the policy shift, ICBC paid $2.11 billion in 2020/21 and $3.498 billion in 2018/19.

ICBC first launched its Enhanced Care system in May of 2021.