ICBC Auto Insurance Reviews

AWFUL THIEVES. Having L driver's license for years no longer counts for experience, I’m paying 370 to drive an old 07 vehicle and they’re increasing the price to 5.5k annually. I only drive less than 15 km to and from work, absolute monsters squeezing every penny they can off of drivers:( This is very upsetting.

My hatred for ICBC knows no bound, in the last 5 years I tried to deal with them, they only bled me dry and/or actually prevented me from being able to drive legally. All the way from file opening to cancellation, the process is inconvenient and cumbersome, the terms are confusing and inflexible. 3 months upfront or 6 monthly payment, miss one and you're banned forever from payment plans. They PUNISH drivers from out of province, from the get-go, they told me that much when I asked to justify the ludicrous 250$ monthly payments I have to make for LIABILITY ONLY!!! ( Although I never claimed my whole life.) Punish drivers out of province though workers from outside are vital for the local economy and a car there is a vital PERIOD. Not to mention they have a total monopoly and you're obligated to deal with them to purchase a vehicle in BC. You are very welcome. Renewal is no better, they have a 30-day frame where you can renew and you have to be physically present in BC. They actually ruined my life this fall with this beforehand undisclosed hurdle; forcing me to go back to BC then away on icy Canadian roads. I crashed my car of course and since 250$ a month is already more than I can afford I have liability only so they'll leave hanging and I lost everything. I asked to cancel my payments since I no longer have a vehicle, but no, I'm a bad out of province boy again so I'll have to mail them their plates back then they'll consider letting me off the hook, after taking a hefty cancellation fee. So there goes the last 250$ I had. Again, you are very welcome. To top it off, the customer service is rude and unhelpful, I never could keep my cool with them, all they do is nag you about what a bad customer you are for not knowing all of their book of rules and hurdles. If you are thinking of getting a car in BC, don't, get it from Alberta or Ontario or wherever else, especially if out of province; you will save money and trouble and sanity and not contribute to enriching the heads of this poisonous state-mandated cartel. I intend to never ever deal with them again after I get my cancellation.

I found no uniformity of information provided when speaking to different people. This was made much worse when I had to deal with different departments on the same issue- customer service can't see account services notes etc, so I was constantly going in circles and getting something done was impossible especially anything out of the norm. Out of 10 people my broker and I spoke to only ONE was helpful and I think she is account services and I would like to give her all the compliments I can because she actually LISTENED, had empathy for my situation, and tried to think outside the box to help solve the situation. Everyone else did not seem to care to listen or help me.

Super abusive policies. They try to make it as hard and as expensive as they can for their clients. Plus, they have really bad customer service.

I just went to renew my insurance, and under the new ICBC policy, I'll be paying 5200 a year compared to 3600. I have had 0 accidents, 0 claims and not even a parking ticket to my name. All because I still have my N and under the old policy they used the years you had your L towards your discount and recently cut that only counting the years you had your N. As well there is an increase for N drivers to boot. I'm in university full time, in what world can a full-time student afford that? We don't even have reliable public transportation where I live so I'm forced to pay this even though I can't afford it.

I just moved here from Ontario. The license transfer has been a horrendous process. No one seems to know what is going in this office. I've been told different requirements by 3 different people and after waiting for my abstract from Ontario they wouldn't accept it today. I've been driving for 10 years in April and I'm considered a new driver now. The girl I dealt with would not apply a discount to driving history despite having the proper form and her comment today was appalling to me. Her excuse for all this miscommunication was " the staff have been misinformed and no one has been trained properly". That is great customer service... The insurance here is a scam. I paid half of what I pay here for a Mercedes Benz in Ontario which is considered a high risk car. I switched to a safer car (Nissan rogue) and somehow my insurance is more. Something needs to change in the next couple of years ! This is absolutely ridiculous. Also step up your customer service skills because they need serious work.

Cost, wait times, service is all terrible. Time to dismantle ICBC. Prices too high. Salaries too high. Due to it being a monopoly people have no options which amounts to no service. Dealing with them for anything is frustrating at every level.

I had a hit and run claim with an independent witness. Yet ICBC can still decline the claim saying that the height of the damages on both vehicles did not match. I also had another experience of enquiring some simple questions at the ICBC licensing office and when they could not provide a clear answer, they asked you to leave or else will call the Police. Can you believe it? Yes by-product of being a monopoly and that independent supervision towards them is not effective . Worst experience I ever had with similar authority.

Supposedly ICBC’s new system will save good drivers money and penalize ‘bad’ drivers. I haven’t met anyone yet who is paying less than they were last year, and now you have to name all your family members on your insurance and pay 1/4 of the amount based on the worst driver. It is VERY unlikely that your named drivers will be using your vehicle this much, for example, my sister may borrow my car once a year, yet my tariff could be based 25% on her driving record even though she may only drive it less than 1% of the time. This is also a discriminatory policy that is biased against new drivers, low-income households and new Canadians. Even if you have a 40-year clean driving record from overseas, you will only be given 15 years' credit (far from maximum discount) and if you want to add a named driver without a BC licence, that person is counted as a new driver regardless of previous driving record. All in all a massive failure designed to bail ICBC out of debt and nothing else. I know people who are being driven out of employment because they can no longer afford to run a vehicle (an no, transit is not a possibility for everyone particularly self-employed).

With these new ICBC rates, and their constant ads on every radio station (wonder what that costs) I felt I should relate the truth about private insurance. I moved over to Alberta for 5 years and came back, I was a roadstar in BC, Alberta didn't recognize that, put me mid-scale. Upon moving back to BC, after the circus of going thru out of province, my rates were 10$ more a month at a max discount then mid-scale in Alberta. To do the out of province they didn't even have a proper form, I had to fill out a transfer paper from myself to myself. They also had no way to contact or get any info from the insurers in Alberta to make sure I didn't have an accident, they made me go back and contact them.