The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) has announced that it has started the distribution of rebate cheques to eligible customers after a cyberattack caused a delay.
In a statement, ICBC said that it has begun mailing COVID-19 rebate cheques in “small batches” and will continue to “work on options to send out more cheques in the coming weeks.”
The distribution was scheduled to start last March 15, but a cyberattack on the third-party vendor that the insurer contracted to issue the cheques forced the postponement.
“The safety and security of customers’ information remains our top priority,” the insurer said. “There remains no indication that any information was obtained by unauthorized parties. The event did not impact ICBC's systems, which are secure.”
ICBC also noted that the data held by the vendor is limited to customer names, addresses, COVID-19 rebate cheque amounts, and cheque numbers.
The insurer said that an investigation into the attack is underway in Ontario and that it will provide an update soon on whether they will continue to have the vendor issue the cheques.
ICBC announced in February that customers who had insured vehicles between April 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020 will receive one-time rebates averaging $190 – their part of the $600 million the insurer saved because of a huge drop in claims as the pandemic took hold.
The insurer said that the first batch of COVID-19 rebate cheques has been issued to about 30,000 customers as of Friday morning.
