By The Canadian Press

Rates to jump amid growing financial losses at B.C.’s public auto insurer

Sep 5, 2017 | 3:41 PM

VANCOUVER — Insurance rates are going up for drivers in British Columbia and the province’s attorney general says the previous government is to blame.

David Eby says the Insurance Corporation of B.C. is asking the provincial utilities commission to hike basic rates by 6.4 per cent this year to combat financial losses of more than $500 million last year.

Optional rates will also jump and Eby says the average driver can expect an annual blended increase of eight per cent or $130 per year.

The higher rates follow a recent report from Ernst & Young that said the Crown corporations finances were in serious trouble and 30 per cent rate increases by 2019 would be needed to cover costs.

Eby says the previous Liberal government had a “cavalier and reckless” attitude toward ICBC’s finances and failed to take action when things began to spiral out of control.

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He says fixing the public auto insurer will be an ongoing project for “the next several years,” beginning with an audit of ICBC’s operations and a number of initiatives aimed at reducing collisions.