ICBC Auto Insurance Reviews

NEVER ever deal with them if you can choose otherwise. This is the worst government company that was set up in the history of mankind. If you have the misfortune to have to deal with them, I'd say get ready for the worst experience of your life.
They will basically extort money from you in every possible way without showing anything from it. Any conversation with customer service or representatives is reduced to "You have to PAY us big, deal with it"
I know this is a bit generic, but I am summing up all my experiences I had along the years with them. I had fender benders (both my fault and 3rd party). Everytime I had to pay big money to ..., you guessed, ICBC.
Insurance company should not be forced upon and shoved down your throat like nazi Germany. Everybody should be able to choose their own insurance company. I totally agree that everyone should be insured, but not by money thirtsy, greedy zealots. Not only that, but they make you feel miserable on any and every occasion they get a chance.
HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE. Can't state enough how ICBC should just desist from doing any kind of business. If ICBC would have to compete with ANY insurance company they will be bankrupt within a few days.

My first week moving to Vancouver I had out of province insurance. A BC resident hit my car, caused a lot of damage. ICBC would not take a look at both cars to compare and prove BC resident hit my car. They told me first to get it repaired under my insurance and then they would assess accident. After getting my car repaired under my insurance ICBC states they can not determine if BC resident was at fault. Unbelievable! I had to pay my deductible of $500 and I was not at fault.

Basic insurance covers almost nothing. You have to always buy "extra" stuff just to get a reasonable insurance package. And they always up-sell product with scare tactics. "Someone got sued for 5 mil, so you have to have it", for extra because the basic insurance is crap. "If you hit a Hydro pole you'll have to pay for replacing the pole unless you have collision", another scare tactic that just proves the basic coverage is junk. Then when you do have a claim, and you have all the insurance, they let you fight it out with their "accredited" body shop when the body shop does poor work. So I'm on my own to deal with the poor quality of body work? As a customer, ICBC should have your back and make sure your car is fixed properly. They do not have your back, believe me. I don't think ICBC'c top executives deserve their $500,000 pay-check.

True story. I was properly parked in a shopping mall parking lot, engine off. My passenger was stepping out of her side of the car. Someone pulled into the space beside us and hit my passenger-side door. ICBC decision? I was declared 100% at fault because when the open door of a car is hit by a moving vehicle, the parked car is always assumed to be at fault. Do they think the guy was driving with due care and attention when he hit a parked car? Did they consider the guy may have been drinking? Nope. Did they call my witness, the passenger who almost got hit? Nope. Instant decision. Parked car is at fault. If he'd killed my passenger he probably could have filed a claim for the cost of cleaning her blood off his fender. So if you hit the door of a parked car in a parking lot, don't worry, it's their fault. Only good part: he hit my door edge-on, so only a scratch to my door, which I'll touch up, so no claim from me. But the other car had fender amage, and filed a claim.

I was rear-ended while driving a Porsche 924, which has been shown can take up to a 15 mile per hour rear impact without suffering any damage. ICBC said because my car was not damaged, even though the girl who hit me had $900 damage to her front bumper, ICBC denied me any money to cover my out-of pocket costs for pain killers, muscle relaxants, physio-therapy, massage therapy and acupuncture. They even sent me to a specialist who confirmed that I had no previous neck or spinal injury prior to the day of the accident and paid him $800 for the report. Over a 2.5 year period they paid their lawyers thousands to battle a claim that I would have accepted $1200 for, which would have simply covered my expenses. I told their female head lawyer I would settle for just what I paid out of pocket and they still denied me everything, and taking them to Small Claims Court was a complete waste of time because the judge did nothing on 4 different dates. I finally moved back to Alberta and said screw it, but since the case went to Supreme Court and I failed to file the amount I was suing them for on time, their lawyers got a dismissal and filed a failure to disclose case against me and now want me to pay them $800! Over the years they have sent me a dozen invoices and letters but I will NEVER pay them a penny! ICBC is the definition of Organized Crime. They are the worst insurance company you can ever deal with when it comes to an injury accident. That's what happens when you create a Monster Monopoly.

As a new driver, I haven’t even been driving for a year. I'm a teenager with a minimum wage job, working part-time during high school. I have had 4 cars this year, which I have paid for all my self. I have saved up for a couple of years to be able to afford a nice car. Unfortunately, 2 of the vehicles I owned this year got written off while they were parked. I was obviously not at fault. Of course, ICBC gets to decide the value of my car and the estimator was a total prick. They compared my car to a completely different model which drove the price down like crazy and when I asked them to redo it they got my estimated value off of a car with 250,000km. They ended up paying me out 4 THOUSAND less than I paid. Not only that, my quote for insurance on an Audi was $5500 for the year. (The car was $12,000). It’s ridiculous that I should get completely screwed over by others actions and have to suffer high insurance because others don’t know how to drive. ICBC is seriously the worst service I’ve ever experienced. I hope the next accident takes me out with it because it would be less painful than going through another ICBC insurance claim. ICBC is the worst company to ever exist.

Rates keep going up every year, even for experienced and safe divers - often at least twice as expensive as other provinces for the same coverage, vehicle, and driver. ICBC has an unchecked monopoly and should not be allowed to continue operating like this.

Supposedly ICBC’s new system will save good drivers money and penalize ‘bad’ drivers. I haven’t met anyone yet who is paying less than they were last year, and now you have to name all your family members on your insurance and pay 1/4 of the amount based on the worst driver. It is VERY unlikely that your named drivers will be using your vehicle this much, for example, my sister may borrow my car once a year, yet my tariff could be based 25% on her driving record even though she may only drive it less than 1% of the time. This is also a discriminatory policy that is biased against new drivers, low-income households and new Canadians. Even if you have a 40-year clean driving record from overseas, you will only be given 15 years' credit (far from maximum discount) and if you want to add a named driver without a BC licence, that person is counted as a new driver regardless of previous driving record. All in all a massive failure designed to bail ICBC out of debt and nothing else. I know people who are being driven out of employment because they can no longer afford to run a vehicle (an no, transit is not a possibility for everyone particularly self-employed).

It’s a very defeating feeling when you realize that the government has TOTAL control over our vehicles that we own and bought with our hard-earned money. I just had to hand over $950 for only... get this. Three months of coverage!!! If I were to pay off the full year it would have cost me $3800!!! My deductibles are maxed to $1000, my coverage is lacklustre and knocked down to very basic coverage. Never been in a collision, never had any serious driving offences, drive a newer vehicle, yet I still can barely afford to be able to use my vehicle to you know... get to work, buy groceries, live my usual life?! I own my car, the government had NOTHING to do with the purchase of my vehicle. I should get to choose who I insure my possessions with. Shouldn’t be forced to use some company that only ever has their own best interests in mind. Hope you sleep well at night making your 6 figure salaries from this disgusting capitalistic monopolized industry you guys call “insurance”.