Image Credit: Global News

By Simon Little / Global News

ICBC RATES

19-year-old Kamloops student takes protest to ICBC HQ, says youth getting ‘screwed’

Nov 8, 2019 | 3:13 PM

NORTH VANCOUVER — They were few in numbers, but the small size of a protest outside ICBC’s head office in North Vancouver drew plenty of honks of support.

Austin Kovacs, a 19-year-old Thompson Rivers University student from Kamloops, made the drive to Metro Vancouver where he was joined by two others in order to highlight what they say are punitive new rates that put driving out of reach for most young people.

“There’s so many personal stories of people getting screwed over, so we’re out here to protest,” Kovacs told Global News.

Kovacs says his last insurance bill was in the ballpark of $3,000, but pointed to reports of other students getting insurance bills in the range of $6,000.

The hikes are a part of the NDP government’s new ICBC rate structure, designed to reduce fees for drivers with long histories of safe driving, while boosting rates for motorists deemed to be at higher risk.

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But Kovacs argues that the new structure makes driving an impossible luxury for many young drivers, along with people new to B.C. or with no driving experience.

“It’s impossible to drive. How are new drivers supposed to afford insurance?” he asked.

“As a university student I don’t have the biggest income, and driving, insurance, most of my money goes to insurance, even when I have no accidents and a clean record… This isn’t just for me, this is for everyone involved.”

Kovacs said he wanted to see the insurance market opened up to competition, so young drivers had more choice.

Global News has requested comment from the Ministry of the Attorney General in response to Kovacs’ concerns about insurance for young drivers.

Attorney General David Eby has previously spoken to the new rates, acknowledging they were a burden for new drivers.

But he said insurance rates should reflect the risk that younger drivers represent, and argued that low-risk drivers have been subsidizing high-risk drivers for years.

“If you have somebody who is a relatively inexperienced driver driving in a very heavily urban area with lots of cars and lots of accidents, they’re going to be paying more for their insurance,” said Eby in September.

ICBC president Nicolas Jimenez told Global News in a previous interview that private auto insurance for new drivers outside B.C. can be as high as $10,000 to $12,000.

The public insurer has also defended the rate structure, noting that young drivers are three-and-a-half times more likely to cause a crash.

Individual drivers’ rates can vary significantly depending on where they live, what type of vehicle they’re insuring, what they plan to use it for, and what level of coverage they purchase, says ICBC.

Dropping optional insurance features such as collision or comprehensive coverage on a low-value vehicle, for example, can reduce a bill, according to ICBC.

Kovacs created an event on Facebook for the protest and even paid to make it a “promoted post” in hopes of drawing a bigger crowd.

While more than 70 people indicated they’d attend, it was just the trio of young people when Global News cameras arrived.

Despite the low turnout, Kovacs said he was happy to get his message out.

“I wasn’t expecting much, I just wanted to keep my word that I would come out here,” he said.

“It’s going to take a lot more than just a protest for change, but it’s a start in the right direction hopefully.”