Cheques in the mail in March

Returns averaging $190 to be mailed next month

VICTORIA — Premier John Horgan says drivers in British Columbia will receive COVID-19 insurance rebate cheques next month that average about $190 each.

Horgan says the Insurance Corp. of British Columbia will return $600 million in net savings to policy holders because there have been fewer collisions and claims during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Solicitor General Mike Farnworth, who is the minister responsible for ICBC, says the rebate cheques will go to drivers who held policies last year from April 1 to Sept. 30, and they will range from $25 to $400.

Horgan says the rebate cheques are separate from ICBC savings that are due in May, when drivers will see a drop in rates of about 20 per cent or around $400 each.

Those rate cuts are part of the government's move to a so-called enhanced care model that limits lawsuits and increases treatment benefits for people injured in accidents.

Farnworth says almost three million drivers will receive rebate cheques from the Crown corporation.