As B.C. drivers face the new reality of risk-based insurance rates for their vehicles, and the higher rates that often go with it, private insurance companies are renewing their call for the Insurance Corp. of B.C. to loosen its hold on driver and accident records to allow more competition.

ICBC faces few competitors for optional insurance, covering collision and other risks beyond required basic liability insurance, said Aaron Sutherland, vice-president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada. The key reason is that ICBC wonB次元官网网址檛 share its claims data directly with competitors, as happens in other provinces, he said.

Sutherland was responding to Attorney General David EbyB次元官网网址檚 challenge, reported by Black Press Media last week, that private insurers should step up with better deals for new drivers who are facing big increases in optional insurance coverage.

B次元官网网址淚n B.C., ICBC holds that driving record and they wonB次元官网网址檛 share it,B次元官网网址� Sutherland said in an interview. B次元官网网址淭hey know that if other insurers could get access to this, they could better price. You would have more insurers coming to B.C., and you would start to see ICBCB次元官网网址檚 market share get whittled away.B次元官网网址�

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Eby said Tuesday he supports the idea of increased competition, as young drivers in particular find their rates going up as much as 12 per cent for basic insurance and in some cases more for optional coverage.

Eby defended ICBCB次元官网网址檚 current practice of requiring drivers to retrieve their own B次元官网网址渄river abstractB次元官网网址� or claims history from ICBCB次元官网网址檚 website, and sharing it with private insurers to get a quote on optional coverage. ICBC allows drivers to get it themselves or enter the e-mail address of a competing insurer so it can go directly there, he said.

Eby said he has no problem with opening driver history up to direct access by private insurers, but there has been no B次元官网网址減olicy workB次元官网网址� done so far to make that change. And he questioned whether making drivers doing their own research is the problem.

B次元官网网址淚 do believe that private insurers donB次元官网网址檛 actually find it profitable to compete in B.C. because itB次元官网网址檚 an expensive place to write insurance,B次元官网网址� Eby told Black Press. B次元官网网址淚f there were money to be made here, writing cheaper insurance for inexperienced drivers, which they keep issuing press releases [saying] is the case, they would be doing it, even if it was a bit of a pain for people to get.B次元官网网址�

Eby said if the issue was so pressing for private insurers, they would have brought it up before. Sutherland responded by copying Black Press with a letter he sent to Eby on Sept. 10, 2018. (See letter below.) The letter offers to pay ICBC an administrative fee for direct access to ICBCB次元官网网址檚 database.

B次元官网网址淚n other provinces, private insurers pay between approximately $9 and $16.50 for driver abstracts,B次元官网网址� the letter states, pitching it as a significant revenue opportunity for ICBC as it grapples with soaring costs and deficits.

Eby said the letter B次元官网网址渞ings a bellB次元官网网址� and suggested he will look further into the situation.

Sutherland said there only two significant private insurance competitors for ICBC because customers donB次元官网网址檛 walk in to their offices with a copy of their claims record in hand. Few people will actually take the trouble to retrieve it from ICBC and share it with a competitor, he said.

The barrier for competition goes beyond individual driver records, Sutherland said. ICBC also holds the only database for high-accident locations, creating a B次元官网网址渟tatistical planB次元官网网址� for each area where an insurance company might offer coverage.

B次元官网网址淥ther insurers canB次元官网网址檛 see that, so they donB次元官网网址檛 really know the marketplace, or the communities in which theyB次元官网网址檙e going to start selling,B次元官网网址� Sutherland said. B次元官网网址淎nd then piling on that, youB次元官网网址檝e got customers coming in your door, and you canB次元官网网址檛 verify their driving record, so youB次元官网网址檙e basically flying blind.B次元官网网址�

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tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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