ICBC Insurance Premium Changes – What Does This Mean For My Car Insurance?

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By Abby Pang

As of September 1, 2019, ICBC has made some insurance policy changes. These changes take the approach thatat-fault crashes should follow the driver instead of the registered owner.

When you go to renew your insurance after September 1, 2019, your insurance broker will ask you to list everyone who drives or will be driving your vehicle. This is now a requirement.

Under the new ICBC insurance policy changes you must list all drivers of your vehicle, especiallyhousehold members, employees and anyone who has driven your vehicle for more than 12 days in the 12 months. You can add or remove drivers at any time – for instance, if a friend decides they want to start driving your vehicle and you did not list them at the time of renewal, you must contact your insurance broker immediately and list them as a driver before they start driving your vehicle.

So how does this impactyour insurance premium?

Basically, the Basic insurance premium you pay when you go in for your renewal will consist of your base insurance premium (which is $1,063 as of April 1, 2019), driver category (i.e. driving experience/crash history of listed drivers) and vehicle category (i.e. where you live and how you use the vehicle).

So 75% of your Basic insurance premium will be based on the principal operator and 25% will be based on the highest risk driver you have listed. However, this does not mean that you can just add lower-risk drivers to reduce your insurance premium. If the listed driver is lower-risk than the principal operator, then there will only be a reduction if the listed driver is a household member or employee.

Additionally, if you have a learner driver listed, there will be an additional Learner Premium applied to your insurance premium.

If an unlisted driver causes an accident while driving your vehicle, you could face aone-time financial consequence. The financial consequence is 15 times the difference between what you paid for your last insurance renewal and what it would have cost if you had listed the unlisted driver who caused the crash. The financial consequence can go up to a maximum of $5,000.

Our legal team at Simpson, Thomas & Associates believes that it is important for all vehicle owners and drivers to be kept well informed about such changes.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a motor vehicle accident, please call us at (604) 689-8888 to schedule a complimentary consultation.