Insurer pleading poverty

Pandemic reduces ICBC’s claim costs — and its investments

VICTORIA — The COVID-19 pandemic has sideswiped British Columbia’s public vehicle insurer, but the attorney general says it’s too soon to assess the potential damage.

David Eby, who is also the minister responsible for the Insurance Corporation of B.C., said Thursday claim costs are down by about $160 million because there have been fewer accidents as drivers stay home. But he said plunging prices on global stock markets have hit the corporation’s investment portfolio.

“In the weeks leading up to (fiscal) year end, ICBC’s investments fluctuated by $1 billion as world stock markets collapsed,” Eby said at a news conference.

Accident claims started dropping as public restrictions and job losses took hold and more people were staying home, he said.

“With fewer vehicles on our roadways come fewer crashes,” said Eby. “Since the middle of March through to May 2 this has resulted in fewer claims than projected and an assessed savings of $158 million for ICBC.”

He said a clear picture of the pandemic’s affect on ICBC won’t be known until the end of the fiscal year in March 2021. Cost savings for claims could continue, contributing to further savings and markets could start to recover, Eby said.

“We simply don’t know how the year is going to end because of the remarkable and unprecedented nature of the pandemic,” he said. “It could be terrible or there could be a significant surplus.”

Fifty-eight British Columbians are being treated for COVID-19 in hospital. Only one of those people is in the region served by Interior Health.

British Columbians are discouraged from non-essential travel on the Victoria Day holiday weekend, often regarded as the unofficial start to summer, and Henry said Thursday that advisory would be in place for some time to come.

"Many of us want to plan our summer activities right now, well in advance, but this year, with the risk we continue to have in our communities across this province of COVID-19, we need to look at plans in a much narrower frame.

"So we need to think just a couple of weeks ahead versus a couple of months and things will become clearer in the next 14, 28 days, and then we will be able to expand our advice and expand our thinking about what we can do in the coming days.

"This weekend, less travel is incredibly important," Henry said. "We're asking that of everyone. Whether in car, on boat, or even by foot, there are many activities and places that we can enjoy safely close to home."