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The insurance industry’s main lobbying body continues to push legislators in British Columbia to open up auto insurance in the province to competition from private insurers.
According to a CityNews report, Aaron Sutherland, Pacific vice president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is heading to Kelowna to urge legislators on a budget committee to rethink their current strategy.
Coverage from crown corporation the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) is mandatory for all drivers in the province. However, an IBC report alleged that, while BC drivers are on par with counterparts in Alberta in terms of payouts and benefits, they are paying more – sometimes as much as 50% more according CityNews. The crown corporation disputed the report saying the comparison isn’t the same.
“We shouldn’t be looking at half measures here,” Sutherland told CityNews. “We need to be looking at the full solution. Whose interest are we serving and what is the end goal here?”
“If the end goal is to improve the finances of a crown corporation that’s one thing, but we should be relentlessly focusing on what is best for drivers in this province and what is best for taxpayers. It doesn’t mean we have to get rid of ICBC, we simply have to open them to competition and give drivers that choice so if they don’t like the price they’re paying or the service they’re receiving, they can take their business elsewhere.”
