The current state of BC’s auto insurance

Read more: Civil claim filed against ICBC’s no-fault insurance system

But ICBC’s woes do not stop there – the insurer previously announced in March that it would be providing rebates to customers in the wake of rising gas prices, but months have passed and not everyone has received this handout.

Just what exactly is going on with the ICBC?

To answer this burning question and more, Insurance Business approached Megan Carter (pictured), auto team lead at Megson FitzPatrick Insurance Services. Carter explained the ICBC’s current condition, and how brokers have been helping clients during this tough period.

Can you tell us a bit about your current role at Megson FitzPatrick?

I am one of two auto team leads at Megson FitzPatrick Insurance. I provide guidance, direction, coaching, motivation, and training for our ICBC team, and sometimes our personal insurance team as well. I monitor performance and give feedback when necessary. I have been doing ICBC in one form or another since 1995 and I love to provide that support to our newbies and more seasoned agents, like my mentors before me.

What are the biggest challenges in BC’s auto insurance market?

I think that the biggest challenge for the BC auto insurance market is providing affordable insurance to BC’ers. The rising cost of repairs, social inflation, increasing costs for medical services, increasing catastrophic events, like the wildfires and flood in BC last year, and supply chain disruptions all affect the cost to get someone back on the road once there has been a claim. An increase in these costs results in increased premiums.

What is the current state of the ICBC?

Right now, we are just over a year into the move to Enhance Care. Many of our clients are noticing lower insurance premiums, which of course makes them happy, especially in this tough economic time. ICBC is in a place where, because of the move to Enhanced Care and effectively removing legal fees as part of the claims process, they spent $2.6 billion less to settle claims between 2020 and 2021 – this translated not only to premium savings for clients, but for ICBC to be able to have money aside to pay out for claims.

How have brokers responded to ICBC taking the insurance renewal process online?

With online renewals, brokers are still required to review the transaction, identify where there might be gaps in coverage or a possible breach of the policy. We then attempt to contact the client to discuss the possible gaps/breach and note the clients file accordingly. For us it has been an interesting and sometimes challenging experience, having another avenue for clients to renew their insurance, all while making sure we still have agents available for in-person and phone transactions. I think it’s positive that there are so many ways for the clients to renew, but it is challenging from a staffing perspective.

Does this decision to move renewals online benefit brokers in the long run in any way?

I don’t believe there is a benefit or a disadvantage for the brokers, but an advantage for folks who do wish to do their transaction online – as brokers we are happy to assist our clients in whatever way they choose.

The BC government earlier this year announced that ICBC would be providing a one-time “gas price relief” rebate of $110 to drivers, but not everyone has received the cash. What are some of the key challenges holding up this process?

When it was announced in March that refunds were coming, ICBC did not communicate well how the refunds were being administered – ICBC is processing the refund in stages. For those clients who signed up for direct debit (different than ICBC’s monthly payment plan) they would have received their refund by direct deposit in May. If clients paid by credit card, they would have received their rebate as a credit on their card between May and June of 2022. For clients that paid monthly, by debit card, cheque or cash, cheques are being sent. ICBC expects that all cheques will have been sent by the end of July 2022. Customers with leased vehicles will receive a cheque starting in June, typically the company that the vehicles are leased from must endorse the customer’s refund cheque, however ICBC is contacting some leasing companies to obtain authorization to issue cheques directly to customers. You can imagine the amount of cheques that will need to be processed as customers will receive a rebate per eligible insurance policy. This means there may be more than one cheque going to one person if they have multiple qualifying policies.

What should brokers do to allay customers’ worries about receiving their cheques late?

I have found informing clients that I still haven’t received mine, along with the timeline ICBC has outlined to send out the rebates, alleviates their concerns. If that doesn’t work, reminding them that there are millions of British Columbians that are receiving a rebate, they understand it isn’t so simple as sending out the refunds – something of this magnitude takes time to implement.