The B.C. NDP is promising to freeze car insurance rates for three years if elected.

Leader David Eby announced in Richmond Thursday (Oct. 8) that an NDP government would freeze ICBC rates for another three years against the backdrop of a banner that he said would show the difference in insurance rates between an NDP and a Conservative government.

He said that under Leader Lorne Doerkson, the B.C. Conservatives would double car insurance costs in B.C.

ICBC now not only breaks even, Eby said, but has provided British Columbians no rate increase to basic insurance for seven years.

“At a time when costs are going up in so many different areas, to know that whether you’re a young person, or a business owner, or anybody else dependent on a vehicle, that your costs are going to stay the same on car insurance is meaningful because insurance can be expensive.”

Asked what another three years of freezes would cost, Eby said ICBC has “significant reserves” and is in a positive cash-flow situation. He said that would allow the Crown corporation to implement the freeze as well as look at increasing the compensation for serious crashes.

“Before, they were literally month-to-month about whether or not they’d even be able to pay out for the claims that they knew that were in the system, and there was a lot of conversation about ICBC going bankrupt,” he said.

The NDP’s latest tactic is taking aim at a leaked letter from Doerkson that appears to signal that if his party is elected on Oct. 24, it would do away with ICBC’s no-fault insurance, which has led to lower rates.

READ MORE: Leaders clash over B.C. Conservative letter to reverse ICBC no-fault insurance

“get back their right to recover for their serious injuries, and government would get out of the legal profession’s business.” The letter was sent to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, the Law Society of B.C., the Trial Lawyers Association of B.C. and the Canadian Bar Association and signed by Doerkson.

He says his party would replace the NDP’s no-fault ICBC “scheme” with a hybrid system.

Doerkson’s letter says “everything’s on the table, including opening auto insurance to private competition to drive down auto insurance rates and bringing back sensible limits on minor-injury claims.

When asked at an unrelated news conference in Surrey about oerkson was asked at an unrelated news conference in Surrey about what he meant by “everything’s on the table.”

“This is a system that has to serve us in two ways. It has to be affordable insurance, and we absolutely have to have supports on the other side of that horrible moment when you’ve been affected in an automobile accident.”

The B.C. Conservatives have been calling for reforms to ICBC’s no-fault system since 2023.

One of the biggest complaints from the party about the system is the inability some British Columbians have experienced to receive enough compensation in cases of catastrophic or fatal crashes.

Doerkson said he’s spoken to people who lost a child in a crash and allegedly didn’t receive enough compensation from ICBC to pay for the funeral costs.

“Enhanced Care,” or more commonly known as the no-fault insurance system,

launched on May 1, 2021, with ICBC. It provides anyone injured in a crash with care and recovery benefits, but eliminates the ability to sue.

The Crown corporation said that by moving to a care-based model, it “largely removed legal costs from the system” and was able to save $1.5 billion. That has led to more affordable rates for customers, it adds.

Eby said he knows ICBC’s no-fault insurance system is “not perfect.” He noted that when the legislation was passed, his government committed to a review after five years, which has been delayed with the snap election call.

“Any big change like that, it’s not going to be perfect. There’re going to be problems and challenges we have to address, and so our projections for this rate freeze include space to be able to increase compensation for certain kinds of collisions that people rightly feel haven’t been properly compensated.”

He said his government had established an all-party committee for that review and committed to re-establishing it if his party wins “to hear from British Columbians about their actual experiences with the new system.”

He said the NDP government ensured there was space in ICBC’s finances – even with the rate freeze announcement Thursday – to be able to adjust compensation to respond to issues that have come up.