Northern BC residents have until four o’clock this afternoon to have their say on the government’s ICBC rate fairness engagement survey.
One of the issues up here is rates appropriate to the population as the north is much smaller in size and sees fewer accidents when compared to the Lower Mainland.
“Driving in where there are not as many vehicles on the road, where there is not as much traffic we see fewer accidents. One of the areas of feedback that we get, especially from rural areas is that there are fewer cars out here with fewer accidents and we should see lower rates,” says David Eby, Attorney General of BC.
Eby adds if ICBC is leaning toward a distance-based model, a few factors need to be considered.
“Those rates should be more proportionate between rural areas and urban areas and ICBC needs to recognize if they are looking at distance-based insurance that people in northern communities will be driving more as there is a greater distance between homes and businesses.”
One of the proposals on the table is for vehicles that see less than 5,000 kilometres of use could receive a lower rate since a lot less mileage is put on them and are used sparingly throughout the year.
So far, over 29,000 questionnaires have been completed with the website garnering over 59,000.
(Files by Brendan Pawliw with MyPrinceGeorgeNow)