NDP hikes ICBC rates

[The Green Barbarian]

Sorry, but it was the NDP that screwed us in 1973 with the inception of ICBC

Just think how better off BC would be right now if those NDP bozos hadn't won that election, and the bum Barrett hadn't been given any power. Oh how this province has suffered since. Just horrible.

[0mni]

privatization

[my5cents]

Just think how better off BC would be right now if those NDP bozos hadn't won that election, and the bum Barrett hadn't been given any power. Oh how this province has suffered since. Just horrible.

Yup, that horrible Ambulance Service, Sheriff Service, and the dreaded ICBC.

I just wish any/everyone discussing insurance knew something about insurance.

[Cactusflower]

I wish right-wing commenters on this thread were somewhat more enlightened than their counterparts on the other Castanet comment section on the same topic, but alas, it is not to be. They have been deceived by their party for 16 long years and they still don't know it, even after the majority of the electorate was savvy enough to smell the corruption and elect another party. So what if it took an alliance with the Greens. The BC Liberals thought they could continue their stranglehold on B.C. as long as they could keep the FPTP voting system, but in the end even that wasn't good enough to keep them and their corporate buddies in power.

The BC Liberals have been stealing billions from our Crown Corporations, both ICBC and BC Hydro. Now that the NDP has had a chance to review Mike deJong's bookkeeping (or should I say 'book-cooking) we find out just how bad the situation at ICBC is, and the NDP has no choice but to raise premiums until they can get a handle on all the changes that must be made to get ICBC back to where it used to be.......an affordable alternative to private insurance.

[hobbyguy]

NDP touts seem to think that $1.2 billion in dividends from ICBC created the situation. That is patently false. It is just another NDP talking point.

IF you actually read the financial reports you can see the problem. Number of accidents waaay up - distracted driving. Cost per accident waaay up, more expensive claims, more litigation.

Yup, the dividends paid to us, i.e. the government (NOT "the BC Liberals") moved "crunch time" up by a year, two at the most.

IF the NDP could do math, they would never have made their dumb promise about stopping the 42% increase (over 5 years). Obviously somebody did the math for them, as the 8% increase is exactly what ICBC had scheduled (7.9%).

And no, private insurance isn't any better. California private are going up 7%. It's mostly a function of idiots who can't leave their phones alone. So yell at them, not the government, not ICBC - the idiots who can't leave their phones alone, and shouldn't be permitted to drive anything more than a peddle car.

[Smurf]

Dizzy1 wrote:

Gotta fill that cookie jar so they got something to take out of.

I have to wonder if you are not right. Someone somewhere realized that without funds from ICBC and probably BC Hydro the government was going to be in big doggy dodo. They would have to get all that money from somewhere else and people weren't going to like it. I could be wrong, only time will tell. I do think it would be great if they left these companies alone and made their money from taxes the way they are supposed to. Time to man up and be upfront with their taxpayers.

[The Green Barbarian]

even after the majority of the electorate was savvy enough to smell the corruption and elect another party..

what party was that? Didn't the BC Liberals get more votes? Didn't the BC Liberals get more seats? What are you talking about exactly?

[jimmy4321]

Privatization is the only way, make ICBC a distant memory and scrap it!

The province can us via photo radar and red light cams and whatever else they can dream up -fine with me

[Chyren]

Time for the fines in BC to go way up.

Cell phone tickets in BC have gone up and have had almost no effect on accidents in this province.

Time to increase them or increase the penalties by taking away vehicles or taking away licences like the Immediate Roadside Prohibition program.

The IRP program has caused Impaired fatalities in BC to plummet and a 368 buck ticket for a cell phone plus points has done nothing to these boneheads.

We are beginning to see the real costs associated with this behavior and its time for the government, whether NDP or Liberal or Green, to get serious with this problem.

That way the idiots who do this will have to pay more so the rest of us won't have to.

[Cactusflower]

Thank you, hobbyguy, for a sensible post. The only point I disagree with is the one about the $1.2 billion being exempt from ICBC's bankruptcy. It was as big or an even bigger factor than distracted driving, phony claims, ridiculous litigation, or drivers who got their licences out of Crackerjack boxes (or more nefarious means).

[rustled]

Time for the fines in BC to go way up.

Cell phone tickets in BC have gone up and have had almost no effect on accidents in this province.

Time to increase them or increase the penalties by taking away vehicles or taking away licences like the Immediate Roadside Prohibition program.

The IRP program has caused Impaired fatalities in BC to plummet and a 368 buck ticket for a cell phone plus points has done nothing to these boneheads.

We are beginning to see the real costs associated with this behavior and its time for the government, whether NDP or Liberal or Green, to get serious with this problem.

That way the idiots who do this will have to pay more so the rest of us won't have to.

That takes care of part of the problem, but it doesn't eliminate the high costs associated with the legal side of the problem. We wait with bated breath to see if Eby will... Oh. No, I guess there's no point holding our breath for that, is there?

[my5cents]

Privatization is the only way, make ICBC a distant memory and scrap it!

The province can us via photo radar and red light cams and whatever else they can dream up -fine with me

So many go on about privatization being the solution.

How is that going to change anything, same drivers, same cars, same roads, same lawyers, same courts.

We need some sort of No Fault system, THAT is the only change that will work, whether we have ICBC or private, they need to get in line with most of the other provinces, which includes, AB, SK, MB, ON, QC. PEI and NS

[LordEd]

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news ... hree-years

The government has taken $1.2 billion in profits from the optional insurance side of ICBC’s business since 2010, when it changed the law to allow itself to siphon money from the corporation and use it for general revenue.

Call it $200M/year. $64/vehicle/year.

http://www.icbc.com/about-icbc/newsroom ... istics.pdf

In 2015, there were 3.1M policies in BC.

They didn't do the transfer last year, so that's the equivalent an increase of that amount.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.4275970

The increase is $130/year / 8% blended.

That means the previous profit taking was the equivalent of 4%.

Putting that money all aginst this increase would last 3 years and then would need the 8% PLUS whatever other increases needed over 3 years.

[seewood]

We need some sort of No Fault system, THAT is the only change that will work, whether we have ICBC or private, they need to get in line with most of the other provinces, which includes, AB, SK, MB, ON, QC. PEI and NS

Great idea, I'm for it as I believe it will make a difference.
Problem is the Attorney General is a lawyer and I don't believe he wants to upset the gravy train for his lawyer friends.

[rustled]

We need some sort of No Fault system, THAT is the only change that will work, whether we have ICBC or private, they need to get in line with most of the other provinces, which includes, AB, SK, MB, ON, QC. PEI and NS

Great idea, I'm for it as I believe it will make a difference.
Problem is the Attorney General is a lawyer and I don't believe he wants to upset the gravy train for his lawyer friends.

Hm. No fault = no lawyer.
Nope, can't see Eby going for this.