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Updated
Since 1973, drivers in B.C. have purchased auto insurance from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC).
ICBC is a Crown corporation and the sole provider of basic auto insurance in the province, known as Basic Autoplan.
Basic Autoplan covers third-party liability, accident benefits, and underinsured driver protection.
Drivers can purchase optional insurance coverages to enhance their protection through the ICBC or private insurers.
Private insurers operate in the province but can only sell optional coverage like collision and comprehensive coverage.
The province's estimated 900 Autoplan brokers are your gateway to purchasing basic and optional coverages. They are independently licensed insurance brokers and usually offer other forms of property insurance, like home and commercial insurance.
B.C. became a no-fault insurance province in May 2021.
No-fault insurance means drivers in B.C. don't have to sue another driver for compensation after a collision and wait for a payout from their insurance company. Instead, your insurance company pays for your liability and medical costs, regardless of who caused the accident.
If you're not at-fault (or only partially at-fault) for causing an accident, your insurance company will even pay to have your car repaired or replaced.
Another feature of no-fault insurance is strict controls around lawsuits, specifically an injured person's ability to sue for excess damages like pain, suffering, and economic loss.
Before 2021, B.C. took a no-fault approach to physical damage but had a tort approach for injuries. Today, B.C. residents cannot sue for damages following an accident.
Once notorious for having the country's highest insurance premiums, premiums decreased on average by $400 per driver after the province introduced the no-fault system.
Holding insurance is mandatory for anyone operating a vehicle in B.C.
Under Autoplan, coverage follows an individual, not the car; anyone who gets behind the wheel is held accountable.
For that reason, Autoplan offers Unlisted Driver Protection, which provides coverage for those off-times when a friend uses your car. It’s free unless an unlisted driver causes an accident with your vehicle; only then will you be charged for it.
| Coverage name | Designation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Enhanced accident benefits | Mandatory | Part of Basic Autoplan. Covers medical costs with no overall limit. Ninety percent of income is replaced, up to $105,500 (higher earners can purchase Top-Up coverage) |
| Basic vehicle damage | Mandatory | Covers the cost of repairing or replacing your vehicle if it’s damaged in a collision you’re not at fault for, up to $200,000 |
| Third party liability | Mandatory | Provides coverage if you damage someone else’s property (that isn't a car) with your car. Also provides coverage if you get into an accident in a province or state that does permit other drivers to sue for damages. |
| Underinsured motorist protect | Mandatory | Provides compensation up to $1 million if you make a third-party liability claim against a driver that does not have enough insurance to cover your costs. |
| Inverse liability protection | Mandatory | Covers you if you get into an accident in a province or state that doesn’t let you claim against the person who caused the crash. Vehicle repair costs are covered up to 100%, but only if you’re 100% not at fault. Compensation is deducted according to your percentage of the blame (for example, if you’re 50% at fault, you will only get 50% of costs covered) |
| Unlisted driver protection | Optional | Provides collision forgiveness for the first crash that an unlisted driver gets into with your car. Also ensures that the crash doesn’t go onto your record, but rather the unlisted driver’s. Free to add to your policy. Charges apply if an unlisted driver gets into an accident with your car. |
| Collision | Optional | Pays to repair or replace your car when you're at fault for causing an accident. Damage from a hit-and-run driver is also covered by collision insurance. Towing charges are also reimbursed. If you have a track record of being at fault for collisions, you may be charged a higher-than-normal deductible, or you may not qualify for this coverage. |
| Comprehensive | Optional | Pays to repair or replace your car if it’s damaged by something other than a collision with another car. Covered scenarios include theft, vandalism, fire, flying or falling objects, weather, or collisions with a wild animal. |
| Specified perils | Optional | Provides coverage for perils insured by comprehensive insurance, but only for ones you name in your policy; if it’s not in your policy, you’re not covered for it. |
| Hit and run | Optional | Pays to repair or replace your car if it’s damaged by an unidentified driver who doesn’t stay at the scene. If you have collision insurance, you likely don’t need to buy hit and run coverage. |
| Income top-up | Optional | Increases your income replacement amount that’s part of Enhanced Care coverage. |
| Extended third-party liability | Optional | Increases your liability coverage beyond the $200,000 mandatory minimum. Policy limits can be increased to up to $5 million. |
| Loss of use | Optional | Covers temporary transportation expenses when your car is out of commission due to an event covered by ICBC. |
| Luxury vehicles | Optional | Enhanced Basic Vehicle coverage for cars that retail for $150,000 and over. |
| Rental vehicle coverage | Optional | Provides liability, accident benefits, underinsured motorist, collision, comprehensive, and loss of use coverages to a rental car. |
| New vehicle protection | Optional | Pays to repair or replace your car even if you were at fault for the collision. Covers the full replacement cost (depreciation is not deducted) and is indexed for inflation. |
| Vehicle Travel Protection | Optional | Helps cover unexpected expenses due to a claim while travelling. Included in Roadside Plus and Roadstar packages. |
| Emergency Roadside Expense Repayment | Optional | For vehicle emergencies like breakdowns, locked-in keys, and flat tires. Included in Roadside Plus. |
| Theft Deductible Waiver | Optional | Pay no deductible if your vehicle is stolen or shows obvious signs of attempted theft. Included in Roadside Plus. |
| Destination Assistance | Optional | Reimburses you up to $100 to help you get where you're going after a collision, theft, or vandalism incident. Included in Roadside Plus. |
| Lock rekeying | Optional | If your keys are stolen, this will pay to alter your car's lock mechanism so the old key will no longer work. With Roadside Plus, up to $1,000 is covered, and there's no deductible. With Roadstar, expenses up to $500 are covered, and a deductible applies. |
Once home to the highest auto insurance premiums in Canada — it had been increasing by about $100 a year — the average auto insurance rate in B.C. fell 23% to $1,199 annually in the 2021/2022 fiscal year, according to ICBC.
The price drop is credited to B.C.'s switch to the no-fault system, meaning people can no longer sue for damages like pain and suffering.
ICBC's Relief Rebate, a pandemic measure, offered $396 million to eligible policyholders, further reducing the average premium.
| Year | Avg. premium |
|---|---|
| 2021/2022 | $1,199 |
| 2020/2021 | $1,566 |
| 2019/2020 | $1,544 |
| 2018/2019 | $1,444 |
| 2017-2018 | $1,364 |
| 2016-2017 | $1,280 |
| 2015 | $1,196 |
| 2014 | $1,153 |
| 2013 | $1,130 |
| 2012 | $1,100 |
Source: ICBC 2021/2020 Annual Service Report
Above is B.C.’s average annual premium since 2012, according to ICBC. Banning people involved in car accidents from suing for damages is credited with bringing down insurance rates in the 2021/2022 fiscal year. The ICBC's Rebate Relief program, a pandemic initiative, is also believed to have aided the decrease; a total of $396 million was given back to drivers in 2022. In addition, the provincial corporation declared a two-year freeze on insurance rates.
Here's what else you need to know about B.C. auto insurance.
B.C. has a baseline that every insurance policy starts at, which is currently $1,063. The rate is then increased or decreased based on the driver’s profile.
The two major factors that ICBC says it bases driver ratings on are crash history and the length of time they’ve been driving.
These metrics are combined to create a score known as the ‘driver factor.’ It’s a three-decimal point number representing how much risk you present to insure.
The ICBC allows you to access your score to know where you stand.
Most of your premium is based on your driving factor, but 25% of your premium is based on the driving histories of anyone else listed on your insurance policy, specifically, the highest-risk driver on your list of listed drivers. This metric is combined with your driver factor to create a combined ratio.
If one of the drivers is lower risk than you (the principal driver) and is a household member or an employee, your premium will be discounted.
When the province moved to the new no-fault system in 2021, rates fell by 15% overall (20% for people with basic and optional coverages).
After not changing rates in 2022, ICBC announced a two-year freeze starting in April 2023.
In the meantime, the agency is building a fund that will be used to subsidize the insurance market, keeping rates as stable as possible.
The convergence of inflation, supply shortages, and the lifting of pandemic health measures have put insurance providers in a bind, leading experts to speculate that car insurance prices, nationally, will increase in the high single-digits.
The good news is that B.C. drivers will be insulated from these changes since the ICBC declared a price freeze to remain in place until 2025.
These economic stressors and worsening flood and forest fire seasons will affect B.C. home insurance rates. Unlike auto insurance, home insurance is provided by private insurers, and prices are unregulated.
B.C. drivers don't have access to all the products that drivers in provinces with private insurance can use to lower their car insurance bills. However, there’s still a lot that B.C. drivers can do to keep their costs manageable.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) monitors auto insurance prices across the country. The latest data from the IBC was collected in 2021 and measured premiums in 2020.
| Province | Average premium |
|---|---|
| B.C. | $1,582 |
| Ontario | $1,655 |
| Alberta | $1514 |
| Manitoba | $1,200 |
| Saskatchewan | $1,274 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $1,251 |
| Nova Scotia | $1,066 |
| New Brunswick | $1,014 |
| Prince Edward Island | $885 |
| Quebec | $857 |
| Yukon | $889 |
| Nunavut | $1,033 |
https://gaa.qc.ca/en/statistics/automobile-insurance-rates/comparison-by-province/
http://www.ibc.ca/bc/resources/media-centre/media-releases/bc-drivers-continue-to-pay-the-highest-auto-insurance-premiums-in-canada
British Columbia (ICBC only)- ICBC Annual Report.
Manitoba - MPI Annual Report, private insurers
Saskatchewan- IBC calculation with data from SGI, SAF, and private insurers. SK premiums are a proxy per policy for all vehicles
There's no standardized method of retrieving premium data in Canada, so there are likely differences in the IBC’s and ICBC's methodologies. For example, the ICBC’s fiscal year runs from April to March of the following year. This may be one reason there's a difference between what the ICBC and the ICB say was the 2020 average.
Alexandra Bosanac has been a content manager for RATESDOTCA since 2021, specializing in auto insurance. She began covering auto insurance in 2017. Alexandra has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University. Before joining the RATESDOTCA editorial team, she reported for the Canadian Business, the Toronto Star, the National Post, and the CBC.
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