The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) will be issuing a second wave of insurance rebates due to fewer crashes during the pandemic.
“We’ve been clear that any pandemic-related savings against ICBC’s bottom line will benefit customers,” said minister of public safety and solicitor general Mike Farnworth. “The good news is that ICBC is in a strong financial position to issue a second COVID-19 rebate to customers, putting more money back in the pockets of B.C. drivers.”
ICBC revealed in a release that it would start distributing rebates averaging $120 per policy in mid-July. It will return about $350 million in additional rebates to 2.94 million customers. The insurer previously returned $600 million in it first wave of rebates.
Customers who had an active auto insurance policy from October 01, 2020, to March 31, 2021, will be eligible for the second batch of rebates. The rebate is approximately 11% of the premium customers paid for coverage during the six-month period. Those customers with short-term, storage, or distance-based policies will be exempt from the rebates, since their premiums already reflect lower usage, ICBC said.
“The past year and a half has been tough on all British Columbians, but they’ve been doing the right thing – including staying closer to home and driving less because of the pandemic,” said ICBC president and CEO Nicolas Jimenez. “Due to lower claims, we’re in a position to support our customers and bring them some extra relief, and that’s just what we’re going to do.”
ICBC reported that there were about 20% fewer crash claims than expected from October 01, 2020, to March 31, 2021. It also saw a reduction in premium revenue, since customers either made changes to their policies to pay less, held off from getting new ones, or cancelled them. The fewer claims filed led to savings of $450 million for the period, while written premium revenue went down $100 million. This meant ICBC experienced net underwriting savings of about $350 million.
