Online car insurance renewals coming to ICBC — but no one knows when

If you've lived in other provinces, you may wonder why you still can't renew your auto insurance online in British Columbia. 

That's going to change — the big question is when.

"We will be looking at and introducing online renewals for people," Attorney General David Eby told reporters at the legislature in Victoria Tuesday. "It just hasn't been the priority given the state of the [Insurance Corporation of B.C.]"

Provincially owned ICBC has been the subject of story after story describing its jaw-dropping losses.

The beleaguered insurance provider is currently one of the biggest risks to B.C.'s surplus budget and has left the  government trying to stop the bleeding rather than introduce new services like online renewals. 

"Basically we've been plugging the holes in the bottom of the boat right now getting ICBC's finances turn around," Eby said.

When asked what a modernized brokerage system might look like, Eby was quick to defend the role of insurance brokers who have been criticized in the past for collecting commissions while ICBC sinks.

He declared them more important than ever given the sweeping reforms introduced this year, many of which are being challenged in court.

"We've made a number of very significant changes at ICBC in terms of how people access coverage and the kind of coverage they need to buy," he said. "It's really important that people be able to talk to a real person." 

If ICBC got rid of brokers all together, Eby said that work would have to be brought in-house and would require the formation of some sort of help desk — along with a significant number of employees to manage it. 

"It's not a zero-sum game where you eliminate the brokers and then everything is free," he cautioned. "You need to set up the infrastructure [for an online renewal system], it's a very significant project." 

B.C. insurance brokers on-board

The Insurance Brokers Association of B.C. is pleased with the overall direction of the changes, saying it will cooperate in making improvements to the system over the next few years.

"[Our] members support the efforts of government in reforming the ICBC product as well as improving the fairness of the rating system," said association executive director Chuck Byrne.

"When online ICBC transactions are introduced, it will likely start with the simplest transactions and expand from there," he wrote in a statement. "Over time, when cost savings can be removed from the system, brokers will be keen to see those savings passed onto their clients."