I heard if you're not paying for insurance, then your discount doesn't go back down.
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Huh?

Every vehicle on the road requires ICBC Basic insurance, so you're paying for insurance, thus your discount will go down each year of clean driving.

He is talking about not insuring a car under your own name when you have low discount or a surcharge.

I know there are many people who have a liscence but no car under their name and do not drive. Since they are in their 30's now and got their liscence when they were 16, they have 43% discount.

ICBC talked about not lowering a person on their CRS if they did not have a car insured under their name, but that never happened.

If you're > 25% at fault your ICBC Basic rate will increase as per the CRS.

The advantage that RabitRat pointed out was that if you're only paying ICBC Basic, only ICBC Basic goes up. Imagine if you were paying ICBC Basic + Comprehensive + Collision, all 3 would increase as you lose discounts on the CRS.

To be clear with an example.
I pay $1200/yr with just ICBC Basic
You pay $2400/yr with ICBC Basic, Comprehensive, and Collision

We sideswipe each other, 50/50% fault.
We both had 8 yrs driving clean, 40% discount.
We both drop 5 steps, down to 15% discount.

I now pay $1700/yr, or $500 more.
You now pay $3400/yr, or $1000 more.

Good catch. This is very different than Ontario, cause they only count insured years. If you were not insured, it means you may not have been driving, and they consider that a negative when getting insurance again. Thus YMMV with optional private insurance in BC.

Just something OP needs to understand. So far, everything he has said is either buy full insurance and only basic insurance and what happens if he totals his car only.
But he needs to understand what happens if he hits someone else's car.

A few people have talked about how you can pay ICBC back the cost of your claim to keep your discount. Here is how that works:

If you cause an at-fault crash and ICBC pays out money on your behalf, you have the option of paying back those costs and then your discount will not change. It is worth doing this if the cost of the crash is less than the increase in your premium.

The other nice thing is you have up until the date of your next renewal to pay. So that could be up to one year.

However, if there are any medical costs paid out as a result of the crash, then you DO NOT have the option to pay back the claim. You are stuck with the loss of discount, even if ICBC paid $100 for one single massage therapy because someone else had a sore back.

Example:

You crash into someone.
Cost to repair their car = $800
Cost to repair your car = $500

You can write ICBC a cheque for $800 and fix your own car at your cost. Your discount stays the same.

Example B

You crash into someone.
Cost to repair their car = $800
Cost to repair your car = $500
The other driver claims medical expenses (physiotherapy, etc)

No option to pay back. Your premium increases.

Few years ago, I was in a very low speed collision that was my fault (damage to both cars was minimal). The other driver immediately claimed they had whiplash, which I called bullshit on. I disputed it with ICBC. Eventually they denied her medical claim (so I was able to keep my discount by paying for the damage out of pocket (about $1000 total for both cars).

Crap I actually wasn't thinking about this :lol. I figured you'd save the whole premium increase because you'd just pay out of pocket for the whole claim.. but you obviously wouldn't if you had hit someone with a half-way decent car. And turns out you couldn't even if you wanted to if someone has an injury claim as Eff-1 just pointed out.

Taylor, your point about rates on Basic + Collision + Comprehensive going up together vs just the Basic rate increase is a good one. I hadn't thought of it like that but should've.

Anyway I guess the point remains that long term, getting Collision coverage on a cheaper car isn't worth it.

I am not sure if I am understanding you correctly. Collision coverage is to insurance against own damage. i.e. material damage.

If person A is at fault, hitting person B who is not a fault, then person A's insurance under third party liability will cover the cost of person B's material damage and bodily injury.

Person B's compensation is not affected by whether person A have collision coverage or not.

...

Correct.

I updated your example to be more clear.

I mentioned this to another poster, please watch your use of the word "liability". Basic insurance includes $200K of Liability coverage, and many people buy $1-3M of Optional Liability coverage.

Liability coverage does not cover material damages to your vehicles. It covers everything else, like bodily injury, property damage (you hit a pole and knocked it over), work compensation, ...

AFAIK if Person A's coverage does not cover everything, ICBC will still pay out Person B and everyone else affected, then take Person A to court to recover costs... yet don't quote me on that.

You pay back whatever ICBC paid out as a result of your collision.

So back to the example:

You crash into someone.
Cost to repair their car = $800
Cost to repair your car = $500

ICBC pays $800 to fix the other driver's car. If you pay back ICBC, then you keep your discount.

For your car, if you choose to have ICBC fix it for $500 (instead of fixing it yourself or doing nothing), then you need to pay back ICBC the $500 as well to keep your discount.

Bottom line: Pay back whatever ICBC has to pay out as a result of the crash, and your discount won't change.

awesome thread. finally some clarification!

Thanks for the help!

When you said "does not cover material damages to your vehicles", you mean your own vehicle right? My understanding was that the Liability coverage included with Basic pays for everyone's vehicle except your own, in an at-fault accident.

I understand where you're coming from. Technically the Liability coverage pays for all damages to other people, so I am stating it incorrectly yet to make a point. I was just trying to make it clear why there is $200K Basic Liability and why you should purchase $1-3M of Optional Liability.

The purpose of Liability coverage is really to cover your ass in case you owe medical benefits, loss of work, ... yes it does pay to fix their car, yet unless you crash into a Ferrari, Basic coverage is going to fix whatever car you crash into - its everything else Liability pays for that needs to be emphasized. You don't need $3M Optional Liability unless you plan on crashing into a Bugatti Veyron. You need it incase you paralyze/kill someone, and $200K Basic Liability isn't enough.

I think that's correct.

If someone hits you and it's 100% their fault, their liabilty covers repairs to your car.

delete post

You need to familiarize yourself with the ICBC CRS. With a 25% discount you'd drop 5 steps to a 0% discount after an at-fault accident.

A 25% discount is equivalent to a 33% increase, so can you handle a 33% increase? if not, I don't understand how you're driving an IS300, or had a C32 (assuming based on your name).

Depends on how you total your car. If you damage anything else, then you'd also have to pay out those damages too to avoid premiums going up.

You sound like someone who has little savings and cannot afford when something goes wrong. Its your choice to cancel it, yet insurance is designed for people like you if the shoe fits.

I was thinking that till I searched on CL. An 03 IS300 can be had from as low as $8000 to a high of $13,000.

I can almost afford that. Just another shopping cart or two of pop cans. :ilied:

i am still thinking of canceling it or not, it could save me cash if i do get into an accident..

only thing im worried about is if i cancel the collision and i rear end someone or run someone over causing big $$$ then i am screwed without collision. i would have to pay full damage for both cars??

this doesnt make sense cause if u didnt have collision on a $2000 car or under and if u rear ended a ferrari or something causing thousands of dollars then u would have to pay that out of ur pocket? or can u just pay deductable?

edit- ok i think i get it now, without collision, and i being at fault of an accident, i can pay deductable to get their car fixed.. but my car has to be fixed my self. should go something like this right?

edit again- got the answer from someone that pmed me.. this is what he wrote..

If you have collision :

If you are AT FAULT for an accident you DO NOT have to pay for damages for your vehicle. All you have to pay is the deductible ($300,$500, etc)

Your yearly/monthly premium will increase after the accident.

If you DO NOT have collision :

If you are AT FAULT for an accident you have to pay for damages to your vehicle. ICBC will pay for damages for the other vehicle because that is what Basic Coverage offers.

Your yearly/monthly premium will increase after the accident.

Right. And if you find that the total damage isn't so bad (and no one claims injury), you can pay back ICBC for all the damage and you won't pay the deductible + premium increase. If it's a really minor accident, it's maybe $500 - $1000.

I hope the OP has a reasonable idea of what an accident will cost. I had a 30 kmph fender bender that cost $11K to fix (German cars crumple!). My brother grazed a deer which cost $6K to fix the front end of his Civic. My coworker's Mazda 6 just got rear ended, very little visible damage, yet still cost $1.5K.

C32,

Something to think about. Cancel your comprehensive insurance and that will save you quite a bit of money per month.

Look at it this way. You get a broken window, you still pay a $300 deductable. A new window will cost you $5-600 dollars.
Car get's broken into and stuff get's stolen. ICBC probably won't cover anything that isn't bolted down. You have a new CD player, well ICBC has a formula for depreciation and a $300 deductable.

Car get's stolen and stripped, well then you are shit out of luck.
Car get's flipped over or torched in a riot, then you are shit out of luck.
But how often does this happen? Once every 17 years? :suspicious:

Bump...

Im trying to see if anyone can help me.
Is there anyone that has knowledge or experience of insuring a car here, when coming from a different province?
I need help with getting my discount (if any).

Basically when I transferred my licence in B.C. the date shown on the new licence is the current date.

Problem:
They require a claims history report to prove I havent been in an accident (which i havent), but my insurance from Manitoba was under my moms name.

Question:
I tried to use my claims history report when registering my car here, the letter was blank and showed no information since the car was registered under my mothers name.
Would a drivers experience letter help at all?
(It will show: "This letter states when you obtained your Manitoba driver's licence, when it expired and includes all the particulars found on your driver's licence.")

Would this allow me to change the date on my drivers licence at all if I go to ICBC?

Thanks.

If your from Manitoba, you can try to get an "claims experience" from them, and then ICBC can check your driver's license on their system. MPI is like BC, it goes by the DL and or plate history.

**note** if you remember your MB DL number, it will come in handy when confirming your drivers history