DAVID Eby on Thursday announced that drivers will benefit from three more years of frozen car insurance rates under the BC NDP plan to help working families with rising costs. This commitment builds on his pledges to cut gas prices by up to 30 cents a litre and cap profits on grocery essentials.
“The interim Conservative leader told trial lawyers and private insurance companies in secret how he plans to jack up your rates, hoping you wouldn’t notice until after the election,” said Eby, BC NDP leader. “I fought hard to reduce car insurance rates, and I’ll fight to keep them low. Nobody can afford for their bills to skyrocket to line the pockets of powerful insiders.”
The BC NDP says that by cleaning up the financial management at ICBC and implementing Enhanced Care, Eby saved the average driver an approximate $500 per year and froze rates for seven straight years – holding the line while premiums in Alberta have surged by 65%. Under Eby’s plan to protect British Columbians from rising costs, he will extend the freeze for three more years until spring 2030, which means that under the BC NDP, ICBC rates will have been frozen for a full decade.
Taking into account the projected increase of insurance premiums, drivers are now paying an average of $1,000 less per year compared to if the BC NDP had never brought in ICBC reforms. This is in addition to multiple rebates issued to drivers.
The BC NDP pointed out that Interim Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson’s secret car insurance plan was revealed this week in a leaked letter he sent to the BC Trial Lawyers Association. In the letter, Doerkson said that “everything’s on the table, including opening auto insurance to private competition.” An Ernst & Young analysis shows that Alberta drivers pay twice as much under that system.
