ICBC unveils online tool to estimate car insurance

British Columbia's public safety minister says an improved online estimator tool will help drivers see how much they'll save under changes coming to the Insurance Corporation of B.C.

Mike Farnworth says the tool allows drivers to estimate their savings once a new model of delivering auto insurance comes into effect at the Crown corporation on May 1.

He says most customers will save an average of 20 per cent or $400 a year and will also be eligible for a one-time refund.

The new insurance model will limit the ability of those hurt in a crash to sue at-fault drivers or the auto insurer, squeezing legal costs out of the system and saving ICBC an estimated $1.5 billion.

Join Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, and Nicolas Jimenez, president and CEO, ICBC, for an announcement related to customer savings. https://t.co/b7dQDBSw0z

— BC Government News (@BCGovNews) January 26, 2021

Attorney General David Eby called ICBC's financial situation a "dumpster fire" after the NDP took power in 2017 and the government has introduced a series of measures to douse the flames.

The government is calling the new insurance model "enhanced care" and the online estimator tool can be found on ICBC's website.

"For some time, we've been talking about changes at ICBC and how they're going to help make people's auto insurance premiums, and in turn their lives, more affordable," Farnworth told a news conference Tuesday.

"Today, the rubber hits the road."

Photo courtesy of Istock.