In Brief:
- Allow competition and innovation in all types of auto insurance.
- Convert ICBC’s basic and optional coverage insurance business into a member owned and operated co-operative.
- Repeal the “Enhanced Care Coverage” legislation, also known as “No-Fault, which denies accident victims pain & suffering damages, access to legal representation for their care and recovery, and ultimately make driver’s less protected.
- Return driver licensing and vehicle registration and administration to the provincial government with regional offices.
- Wind-down the ICBC administration and executive bureaucracy
- Sell the $80M head office property at Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver to pay off ICBC liabilities and provincial debt.
- Full review of ICBC’s fines schedule and collections practices, and negotiate the transfer of administration to municipalities.
In Summary:
ICBC was consistently rated as the worst insurance provider in the country for many years, yet consumers are powerless to choose a competing insurer for their basic auto insurance needs. Now, ICBC users do pay less in insurance premiums compared to other provinces, but it comes at a cost – there are thousands of British Columbians that are under-supported and misrepresented by ICBC’s “Enhanced Care.” Also known as No Fault Insurance, it bars insurance clients from getting the treatment that their doctors believe they need.
Just like the provincial healthcare monopoly makes providers ration healthcare, ICBC’s monopoly on auto insurance has led to rationing rehabilitation treatment, causing upwards of 20,000 British Columbians unnecessary suffering.
When pressed, healthcare professionals agree that ICBC has been difficult to work with at best, and have refused rehabilitation plans for many clients. Numerous non-profit organizations have spoken out – and we here at the BC Libertarian Party know that the minority matters and underrepresented voices need to be heard.
The BC Libertarian Party would liberate drivers from ICBC and allow every British Columbian to purchase any form of auto insurance from any insurance provider of their choice, finally ending almost 50 years of government monopoly in British Columbia.
At length:
ICBC has been used by the province to cover up fiscal mismanagement and pander to special interest groups with lavish payments, ie. “rebates,” that often come around election times. BC Libertarians want to take away one of the primary means of our provincial governments to behave irresponsibly and without accountability. Without the ability to intentionally create massive surpluses or deficits in the ICBC account, fiscal responsibility in every other ministry will be strengthened.
We will repeal the Insurance Corporation Act and replace it with the Temporary Co-operative Insurance Act. The BC Utilities Commission would be stripped of its regulatory role in determining the basic insurance tariff and their budget reduced commensurately. The Financial Institutions Commission would add auto insurers to their list of insurers that they currently regulate, with their budget increased. During a period of transition, ICBC members would vote on and implement changes recommended by members, such as amalgamating with BCAA or continuing operations as a standalone co-operative. Others may choose to opt out and purchase their basic insurance from alternative providers.
The ICBC head office located at the Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver, valued at nearly $80M, will be sold, with proceeds going towards paying outstanding claims and then any further amounts going towards provincial government debt.
The remaining portions of ICBC’s responsibilities with vehicle Registration and driver licensing should be apportioned to regional offices that need only conform to some simple provincial guidelines. Registration and Licensing needs are very different in the various geographical regions of BC. A one-size-fits-all approach leads our rural residents paying too much for regulations needed only in cities.
Measuring the cost of insurance in BC versus other jurisdictions is not always an apples-to-apples comparison, as other jurisdictions with public systems set strict caps on what claimants are eligible to be paid – no matter how much pain and suffering might be caused. We believe setting limits would be arbitrary and will have negative consequences beyond those of high prices. Instead, we will address the growing amounts of fraud and soft fraud by permitting for technologies that enable “group buying” or small cooperatives of friends and family to effectively insure each other.
Repealing the Great No-Fault Fraud aka “Enhanced Care Coverage”
According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, ICBC presently has nearly double the workforce as any private insurer of the same customer base size. Rather than restructuring the crown corporation, or focusing on root cause accident prevention, the current BC NDP provincial government has enacted No-Fault insurance legislation in a stated effort to shore up ICBC financially.
For victims of motor vehicle accidents this legislation eliminates access to pain and suffering damages, access to legal representation, as well as the ability to sue their insurer, ICBC. Essentially, ICBC has obtained a great measure of government protection and legal immunity, as well as forcibly eliminated the scope of insurance coverage that victims would otherwise be eligible for. The citizens of BC have become entirely subordinate to the administrative bureaucracy of ICBC. In order to obtain compensation, rather than lump sum payouts which would allow a victim to retain psychological control over their own life, they in certain cases will be required to have a lifelong relationship with ICBC – essentially ensnaring them into a victim welfare plantation. Many people will fall through the cracks, lives will be ruined, and our roads will ultimately be much less safe as a result.
Furthermore, in a Rand Institute Study, it was found that regimes in the United States that adopted No-Fault over a tort-based system, ultimately ended up being more expensive for both policyholders and government in the long run. The BC Libertarian Party will repeal “Bill 11 – 2020: Attorney General Statutes (Vehicle Insurance) Amendment Act, 2020” which covers the “Enhanced Care Coverage” aka No-Fault amendments so that victims of motor vehicle accidents will receive fair pain and suffering compensation and access to legal representation to advocate for their care, recovery, and damages, as well as retain psychological control over their own lives.
The BC Libertarian Party wholly rejects the savings by the BC NDP after enacting No Fault Insurance because it comes at the cost of excluding thousands of British Columbians from adequate compensation.