On Monday Premier David Eby announced the provincial insurer, ICBC, is applying for a 2-year rate freeze to help releive the upward pressure on living costs for British Columbians.
If approved by the B.C. Utilities commission, this will mark a 5 year freeze on basic insurance rates in British Columbia.
“This will help keep insurance affordable for British Columbians at a time when people are facing significant cost pressures,” Eby told a news conference Monday.
The premier acknowledged that ICBC’s profits have taken a “significant hit” as a result of the pandemic, with the corporation expected to lose $298 million this year. ICBC CEO Nicolas Jiminez and the premier attributed the loss to the investment arm of the corporation but the core business is doing well.
“When we’re projecting rates, we’re looking forward not back,” Jimenez said.
“We are projecting a future that’s not rosy, that accounts for the fact that there is a lot of volatility. But we are very prudent, very cautious. We always have been and this filing will lay bare essentially that conservatism and caution, which is again allowing us to do what we’re doing around rates for the next two years.”
According to the B.C. government, BCUC has been given instructions to make sure ICBC builds “sufficient capital reserves” in order to be prepared for the request for a rate freeze.
The request still needs to pass the B.C. Utilities commission approval process.
