As B.C. drivers face the new reality of risk-based insurance rates for their vehicles, and the higher rates that often go with it, private insurance companies are renewing their call for the Insurance Corp. of B.C. to loosen its hold on driver and accident records to allow more competition.
ICBC faces few competitors for optional insurance, covering collision and other risks beyond required basic liability insurance, said Aaron Sutherland, vice-president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada. The key reason is that ICBC won91裸聊视频檛 share its claims data directly with competitors, as happens in other provinces, he said.
Sutherland was responding to Attorney General David Eby91裸聊视频檚 challenge, reported by Black Press Media last week, that private insurers should step up with better deals for new drivers who are facing big increases in optional insurance coverage.
91裸聊视频淚n B.C., ICBC holds that driving record and they won91裸聊视频檛 share it,91裸聊视频� Sutherland said in an interview. 91裸聊视频淭hey know that if other insurers could get access to this, they could better price. You would have more insurers coming to B.C., and you would start to see ICBC91裸聊视频檚 market share get whittled away.91裸聊视频�
RELATED:
RELATED:
Eby said Tuesday he supports the idea of increased competition, as young drivers in particular find their rates going up as much as 12 per cent for basic insurance and in some cases more for optional coverage.
Eby defended ICBC91裸聊视频檚 current practice of requiring drivers to retrieve their own 91裸聊视频渄river abstract91裸聊视频� or claims history from ICBC91裸聊视频檚 website, and sharing it with private insurers to get a quote on optional coverage. ICBC allows drivers to get it themselves or enter the e-mail address of a competing insurer so it can go directly there, he said.
Eby said he has no problem with opening driver history up to direct access by private insurers, but there has been no 91裸聊视频減olicy work91裸聊视频� done so far to make that change. And he questioned whether making drivers doing their own research is the problem.
91裸聊视频淚 do believe that private insurers don91裸聊视频檛 actually find it profitable to compete in B.C. because it91裸聊视频檚 an expensive place to write insurance,91裸聊视频� Eby told Black Press. 91裸聊视频淚f there were money to be made here, writing cheaper insurance for inexperienced drivers, which they keep issuing press releases [saying] is the case, they would be doing it, even if it was a bit of a pain for people to get.91裸聊视频�
Eby said if the issue was so pressing for private insurers, they would have brought it up before. Sutherland responded by copying Black Press with a letter he sent to Eby on Sept. 10, 2018. (See letter below.) The letter offers to pay ICBC an administrative fee for direct access to ICBC91裸聊视频檚 database.
91裸聊视频淚n other provinces, private insurers pay between approximately $9 and $16.50 for driver abstracts,91裸聊视频� the letter states, pitching it as a significant revenue opportunity for ICBC as it grapples with soaring costs and deficits.
Eby said the letter 91裸聊视频渞ings a bell91裸聊视频� and suggested he will look further into the situation.
Sutherland said there only two significant private insurance competitors for ICBC because customers don91裸聊视频檛 walk in to their offices with a copy of their claims record in hand. Few people will actually take the trouble to retrieve it from ICBC and share it with a competitor, he said.
The barrier for competition goes beyond individual driver records, Sutherland said. ICBC also holds the only database for high-accident locations, creating a 91裸聊视频渟tatistical plan91裸聊视频� for each area where an insurance company might offer coverage.
91裸聊视频淥ther insurers can91裸聊视频檛 see that, so they don91裸聊视频檛 really know the marketplace, or the communities in which they91裸聊视频檙e going to start selling,91裸聊视频� Sutherland said. 91裸聊视频淎nd then piling on that, you91裸聊视频檝e got customers coming in your door, and you can91裸聊视频檛 verify their driving record, so you91裸聊视频檙e basically flying blind.91裸聊视频�
by on Scribd
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
Like us on and follow us on .
