ICBC changes could see ‘good drivers’ paying less for optional insurance starting September

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Good news if you’re a good driver — your monthly bills could be less starting in September thanks to some newly-announced changes to car insurance by ICBC.

The changes, which the province says will benefit most drivers, will also target bad ones.

Those with serious convictions like Criminal Code offences, impaired driving, or distracted driving will see their premiums rise with each infraction based on the seriousness of them, starting September 1st.

This only applies to optional insurance.

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Meantime, ICBC will also be scanning back over the previous three years of your record by June 10, 2022.

The insurance corporation calls it a “more driver-friendly” model, and says once it is fully up and running, three quarters of the province’s drivers will be better-off financially than they are today.

“Using driving convictions to price optional insurance is long overdue,” ICBC President and CEO Nicolas Jimenez says, adding it’s a change he believes will benefit the majority of British Columbians.

Jimenez also notes it’s just part of a series of changes ICBC is making to “evolve B.C.’s insurance system so that it works for our province,” all while making sure “high-risk drivers are held accountable for their decisions.”

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Lower risk drivers should end up paying less for their optional coverage.

According to ICBC, 10 per cent of drivers have either two or more minor driving convictions or have been convicted of a serious driving offence in the past three years.

“…yet they pay the same optional premium as a customer with no convictions — this isn’t right,” Attorney General David Eby adds.

He’s applauding the move.

While customers can find more information about upcoming changes online, ICBC says they will also receive some information in renewal reminder letters, if they come up before September 1st.

Driving convictions from June 10th of this year and going forward may impact a driver’s optional premium when the changes kick in.

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