Confusion surrounds ICBC’s new rule on incidental drivers
Langley resident Herb Thiessen is confused about coming changes for ICBC policyholders that could make him list the five family members who occasionally drive his two cars.
Thiessen, 70, has health issues and his wife, two adult children and their spouses take turns providing “occasional support using my vehicles and occasionally borrow the truck for errands and holidays.”
Recently, ICBC said it planned to change its rate framework to get policyholders to list all incidental drivers.
It used a fictional example of a man named Bill to illustrate how things would change.
If Bill owns a car that he occasionally loans to his neighbour, Sue, he currently pays an annual premium of $1,056 based on basic insurance for himself, a driver with 20 years’ experience and no at-fault crashes.
When the changes are implemented next year, Bill will be required to list Sue, a driver with five years’ experience and no at-fault crashes, on his policy. It would mean an increase of $135 a year, or about 13 per cent.
If Bill chooses not to list Sue, balking at the extra cost, he would run the risk of a penalty that is very stiff at 15 times the upfront premium.
So, wonders Thiessen, will he have to register himself, plus his five family members on each vehicle? That could be a significant increase.
ICBC told Thiessen he could choose the option of what it calls Unlisted Driver Protection. This will cost $50 a year and is for those who plan on “allowing other drivers to operate their vehicle.”
“There are many circumstances where one may have to occasionally allow someone else to drive their vehicle — helping with a move, having a babysitter drive your child to soccer, or getting help with driving during a long road trip,” explained ICBC spokesperson Joanna Linsangan.
It seemed a reasonable solution to Thiessen.
However, the important detail is the Unlisted Driver Protection only allows for “occasional” use, which ICBC defines as one drive per month per unlisted driver, said Linsangan.
Any more than that is considered “regular” use.
“We go into Vancouver for football games,” said Thiessen, who prefers one of his children take the wheel when they head into the city. “That would be more than once a month.”
“If we haven’t listed one of them, how are they going to prove if it’s the first time or not? It’s going to be a lot of paperwork,” he said.
Linsangan used the example of a senior with several grandchildren who drive her to appointments to help explain the changes.
“If (a helpful grandson) drives her around more than 12 days in a year, he should be listed on the insurance policy, even if the grandson doesn’t live in the same house as grandmother. If he gets into a crash in her vehicle and she didn’t list him, she would have to pay a penalty.”
Linsangan said the changes were intended to make the system fairer, and to show the true risk of each driver. Today, at-fault crashes affect the vehicle rather than the driver. This allows some to escape the impact and hide their true risk, she said.
“In fact, 20 per cent of at-fault crashes today are caused by a driver that’s not listed on the policy.”
Linsangan said that if a car owner uses a valet or designated driver service then that’s fine, because those types of businesses already purchase a different type of insurance that covers their employees in the event of a crash.
“This policy is available to businesses and charities where they have to operate a customer’s vehicle for the purpose of returning that vehicle to the customer’s place of residence or alternative location requested by the customer when that customer’s ability to operate the vehicle has been impaired by alcohol or by a medical procedure,” she said.