July 12, 2010 by Canadian Underwriter
A Vancouver filmmaker has started an online petition using social media to get the province’s public auto insurer to offer consumers a ‘pay-as-you-drive’ option.
In a six-minute YouTube video presentation, Cliff Caprani says he wants the Insurance Corporation of B.C. (ICBC) to offer a pilot project in which consumers are offered a pay-as-you-drive option. The option would have ICBC charge auto insurance premiums based on the number of kilometers a policyholder drives.
Caprani and others argue that pay-as-you drive systems encourage drivers to use their cars less frequently, thus decreasing the chance they will get into an accident and make a claim.
Caprani says in the video he is looking for 14,999 people to sign his petition. Thus far, about 150 people have visibly signed the petition. (There is an option for people not to appear on the list of petitioners, and so the actual number of signees could be higher.)
ICBC is interviewed in the video and notes that similar pay-as-you-drive pilot projects outside of Canada were cancelled due to apparent lack of interest, a fact Caprani disputes.
Have your say: