While the hand steering the course may be new, all indications suggest the destination will likely be the same. A report released this week suggests B.C.B次元官网网址檚 auto insurance rates couldin the next two years.
The provinceB次元官网网址檚 new Attorney General David Eby was quick to downplay the report by Ernst &Young, saying B次元官网网址渁 30 per cent rate increase will not be happening on our watch.B次元官网网址� While the NDP government can certainly limit the amount of ICBC rate increases, thereB次元官网网址檚 no escaping the underlying fact that there the provinceB次元官网网址檚 government-run auto insurance program is in serious need of an overhaul.
The report was commissioned by the previous Liberal government, which had long neglected the major work needed by the Crown corporation.
B次元官网网址淚CBC has been careening toward a crisis over at least the last couple of years,B次元官网网址� said Eby, who accused the previous government of using ICBC as a B次元官网网址渂ank machineB次元官网网址� to help top up general revenue.
EbyB次元官网网址檚 first call to action is something the previous Liberal government long avoided: hiking the rates of drivers causing crashes. B次元官网网址淢aking them pay more because they are costing the system more just makes sense to us,B次元官网网址� he said.
But ending the subsidy to B.C.B次元官网网址檚 worst drivers wonB次元官网网址檛 be enough to reverse the problems caused through years of neglect by the previous government. The province has brought about minor adjustments to ICBC, most recently when the previous government announced cars worth more than $150,000 would no longer be covered.
But that will do little to turn the corporationB次元官网网址檚 fortunes around. The Ernst &Young report says accident rates increased by 23 per cent between 2013 and 2016, and that vehicle repair costs have skyrocketed to a total of $1.5 billion in 2016. ThatB次元官网网址檚 more than a bit of tinkering can repair.
After enjoying a monopoly over the provinceB次元官网网址檚 auto insurance market for more than four decades, perhaps the time has come to let B.C. drivers shop around. ItB次元官网网址檚 an idea the new NDP government should at least take out for a test drive.
