Wednesday May 8, 2024 | VICTORIA, BC [Updated 5:09 pm]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
“One of the key commitments that British Columbians expect us to make to them on a public insurer is that when that insurer has a year when they make $1.5 billion that drivers see some of that benefit,” said Premier David Eby today standing at a BC Government podium in a parking lot full of cars at Hillside Mall in Victoria.
That’s very much an NDP style of governance. In this election year it’s important to note that another government might not see rebates to consumers in quite the same light.
The podium wordmarking was ‘2024 Rebate’ displayed on a super large ‘Beautiful BC’ licence plate.
The total rebate will be about $400 million, with a one-time $110 issued to all insured drivers who have had a policy since February 2024.
This is the fourth such rebate since the BC NDP formed government in 2017. The upcoming election on October 19, 2024 is going to be hotly contested but Eby seemed confident about returning an NDP government to the BC Legislature.
Sharing the benefits:
“We’re able to show to British Columbians and to the utilities commission (BCUC) that year-over-year we’re increasing capital within ICBC so that they’re stable if there is a particularly difficult year or there are other challenges that they face,” said Eby today.
“And we’re also able to say this isn’t a full solution by any stretch. This is part of how we’re supporting British Columbians,” the Premier said.
ICBC did well with its market investments this year.
Revised investment strategy under NDP:
“You can see year over year over year a steady increase in ICBC’s capital reserves. One of the big changes we did make wih ICBC we took ICBC’s investments away from being managed directly from ICBC and turned them over to BCI,” the premier explained.
“BCI is the holder of pensions for British Columbians. They have a capacity for investment that ICBC on its own did not have for major infrastructure investments around the world and classes of investments that were not available to ICBC. That change has resulted in some of the positive investment returns that ICBC has seen.”
“So it wasn’t just changes on how drivers interact with the system and getting the legal costs out,” said Eby, who what seems like long ago brought the previous government’s failings of ICBC into the daylight. No fault insurance replaced lawyer-managed cases.
Eby was Attorney General at that time, when John Horgan was Premier.
“It was also about how ICBC manages invest,ents and we’re seeing that in benefits as well,” he said.
Then returning to full campaign mode: “But for drivers it doesn’t matter where the money comes from,” said Eby, saying that skillful investment management and “sound management” contributed to the rebate being possible.
“For them (the public) when a crown corporation makes a billion and a half dollars it’s only right that they see that relief come back to them,” said Eby today.
Getting your rebate:
“To receive your rebate as quickly as possible, we encourage customers to update their addresses and sign up for direct deposit on https://icbc.com/ or through an Autoplan broker,” said ICBC President and CEO David Wong today.
“Initial rebate payments will commence in late May, with ongoing processing until the end of July. Customers receiving rebates via cheque are advised to allow additional time for mail processing and delivery.”
How drivers receive the rebate depends on how they paid for their insurance, the Ministry of Public Safety states.
About 3.5 million people will receive the rebate.
“For people who paid by credit card, the rebate will be refunded to the credit card. People who paid by cash, cheque or debit can sign up for direct deposit or will receive a cheque from ICBC. For people who are on a payment plan, the rebate will be applied directly to an upcoming payment.” [See ICBC 2024 rebate information page]
Maintaining rates:
Basic rates will be maintained until March 31, 2026, marking that six years in a row with no ICBC basic insurance rate increases for drivers in BC. [See full news release: ICBC announces $110 rebate to drivers, basic rates remain unchanged]
===== ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
Island Social Trends delivers news to attentive community-oriented readers through a socioeconomic lens including political analysis. News is posted at IslandSocialTrends.ca .
Island Social Trends founder and editor Mary P Brooke has been reporting through that lens since 2008: MapleLine Magazine (2008-2010), Sooke Voice News (2011-2013), West Shore Voice News (2014-2020), and Island Social Trends (since 2020).
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