Consumer group releases recommendations to fix B.C. public auto insurer

The Consumers’ Association of Canada’s British Columbia branch has released a new report that includes 15 recommendations for improving how the government runs the province’s public auto insurer.

The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) has become a “cash cow,” the group argues in its report, “A Consumer’s Perspective to Fixing ICBC.”

The association says that the government has taken $677 million since 2010, and that by 2015, it will have transferred $1.2 billion in profits from ICBC to the province.

It also asserts that the insurer’s “core values” have shifted from a consumer-focused driver and road safety mandate to revenue generation, by diverting money to the province’s General Revenue Fund.

Among its 15 recommendations is to stop shifting ICBC profits from optional coverage to the province. The group also says that the province should reduce its premium tax of 4.4% to “pre-2004 levels” or eliminate it entirely.

The province should also remove ICBC from the Property and Casualty Insurance Compensation Corporation (PACICC), the association says. ICBC can’t become insolvent unless the province does first, so paying into the fund is useless, the group says.

Having ICBC governed by private sector requirements for excess capital is also unnecessary, the group argues, since those levels are also to prevent insolvency, and that doesn’t apply to a crown insurer.  

The group also says the leadership at ICBC needs to be strengthened by implementing a new evaluation process, as it has had seven different CEOs since 2001 and says the insurer’s board of directions should have a broader representation of stakeholders, including having two consumer representatives.

The full report, with more details on the 15 recommendations, is available on the consumer association’s website.