The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) will be issuing a second round of COVID-19 rebate cheques to drivers because of lower claims costs as a result of fewer crashes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The average rebate per policy will be $120 totalling about $350 million in rebates. It will go to 2.94 million customers who had an active insurance policy from Oct. 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021, adding to the first COVID-19 rebate of $600 million because of savings between April and September 2020.
“We’ve been clear that any pandemic-related savings against ICBC’s bottom line will benefit customers,” Mike Farnworth, B.C.’s Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General said.
“The good news is that ICBC is in a strong financial position to issue a second COVID-19 rebate to customers, putting more money back in the pockets of B.C. drivers.”
The cheques will start going out in mid-July. Roughly 70 per cent of customers will get a rebate between $60 and $200.
Exceptions will include customers with short-term, storage or distance-based policies, whose premiums already reflect lower usage. The government says the rebate is approximately 11 per cent of the premium customers paid for coverage during this six-month period.
“The past year and a half has been tough on all British Columbians, but they’ve been doing the right thing – including staying closer to home and driving less because of the pandemic,” said Nicolas Jimenez, the president and CEO of ICBC.
“Due to lower claims, we’re in a position to support our customers and bring them some extra relief, and that’s just what we’re going to do.”
ICBC says it got about 20 per cent fewer crash claims than expected between Oct. 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021. There was also a reduction in premium revenue as people made changes to their insurance policies or held off on getting new policies. Others cancelled them outright.
Unlike the first rebate, which was mailed to customers as a cheque, the second rebate will be distributed based partly on how customers paid for their insurance policy.
People who used a credit card to pay their insurance premiums will have their COVID-19 rebate returned to the card they used. People who paid by cash, debit or Autoplan payment plan will be mailed a cheque to the latest address on file with ICBC.
And people who sign up for direct deposit by June 30, will get their rebate into their bank account.
