Insurance in BC

[WolfHero]

Just an FYI of personal experience from my friend. After I told him about BCAA's optional insurance savings I got, He went to check how much he could save with BCAA on his LEASED 2018 Nissan Leaf (half of ICBC's cost). It is a mess attempting to switch. BCAA says they require power of attorney from All West insurance, All West says he needs to contact Nissan Canada, Nissan Canada says All West has everything needed.

Just a cautionary tale for those thinking about doing this on a leased vehicle.

 

[Kevinfish]

I brought my ICBC agent (my friend) to get the insurance. So, if BCAA agent is willing to come, I guess you could ask BCAA agent to come and do both ICBC and BCAA optional insurance. I didn't know about BCAA insurance, and I changed the optional insurance after couple of weeks, and cancelled ICBC optional insurance. You should ask local BCAA office first for best way to obtain the optional insurance.

Do you actually need to BCAA agent to go with you? I thought as long as you have a VIN BCAA can get your insurance done without physically seeing the car.

 

[scramies]

Have just renewed my basic insurance with ICBC. For my catagory of senior, pleasure only, max discount, rate for a 19 year old BMW was $921, which surprisingly is the same as a new SR+.. Haven't got the exact numbers for optional which I get from Belair, but tentatively those numbers are the same as I have been paying for the BMW.. So end result, able to trade old for new with no increase in insurance cost.

 

[hiener]

Do you actually need to BCAA agent to go with you? I thought as long as you have a VIN BCAA can get your insurance done without physically seeing the car.

You don’t need a bcaa agent, just get the quote ahead of time. And you can provide the vin and ICBC registration # after you get your basic ICBC.

Here’s a quote, Belair is def cheaper and really cheap if you have more than 1 car

 

[chopdlck]

How did you get the quote ahead of time without the vehicle registration and licence plate numbers? I'm trying to get a quote online but it won't let me go past that page.

 

[hiener]

Just called them, took 5min

 

[samk579]

BCAA is the cheapest I've seen. But unfortunately they require all drivers to be accident (at fault) free for 4 yrs. So they would not allow my wife to be put on the insurance as an authorized driver

I opened a claim with ICBC and even though it’s the other person fault and I even told ICBC I don’t want to peruse anymore, BCAA refuses to give me insurance.

 

[ride365]

How did you get the quote ahead of time without the vehicle registration and licence plate numbers? I'm trying to get a quote online but it won't let me go past that page.

You don’t need a bcaa agent, just get the quote ahead of time. And you can provide the vin and ICBC registration # after you get your basic ICBC.

Here’s a quote, Belair is def cheaper and really cheap if you have more than 1 car

I did my ICBC at the delivery center (they have an agent on site) and called BelAir on the phone immediately after. They likely won’t let you leave the delivery center without proof of insurance for collision/comp if you’re financing. I had to show proof of private. insurance to the ICBC rep.

**Keep in mind that the insurance agents for ICBC get 50% commission on the total amount of insurance you pay. They will tell you a sob story about “some guy” that was under insured and is now on the hook for extra costs. If you’re a responsible driver and don’t let bad drivers drive your vehicle you should be fine with $2M liability. They’re the exact same as any commission based sales person.

 

[fidodido]

You don’t need a bcaa agent, just get the quote ahead of time. And you can provide the vin and ICBC registration # after you get your basic ICBC.

Here’s a quote, Belair is def cheaper and really cheap if you have more than 1 car

That seems to be expensive(?). I paid $1100 for optional insurance at BCAA.

 

[MexiCanuck]

**Keep in mind that the insurance agents for ICBC get 50% commission on the total amount of insurance you pay. They will tell you a sob story about “some guy” that was under insured and is now on the hook for extra costs. If you’re a responsible driver and don’t let bad drivers drive your vehicle you should be fine with $2M liability. They’re the exact same as any commission based sales person.

Where did you see the 50% commission rate?

This news report says,

Because there is competition with other insurance companies on optional insurance, ICBC pays brokers an average of around 15 per cent on a renewal or new plan. In the case of a $800 optional insurance bill, brokers can earn $120.

and

Global News obtained a copy of the broker remuneration plan for 2019 that shows a fee structure ranging from the 3.11 per cent base premium for drivers with no discount to 19.93 per cent for drivers with the highest safe driver discount.

Auto insurance brokers receive nearly 20 per cent commission when safest drivers get optional insurance

 

[hiener]

That seems to be expensive(?). I paid $1100 for optional insurance at BCAA.

Ya, it seems expensive to me as well. BCAA's Replacement Cost Plus is $200 (50% cost to repair) more than replacement cost (90%). Agent did mention their rates have jumped up quite a bit this year, did you get your policy last year?

 

[Yangy]

Yeah BCAA optional is much cheaper than ICBC because they only insurance good drivers. If you had accident recently then BCAA won't insure you, maybe after another 5 years they will insure you again.

 

[phtp]

That seems to be expensive(?). I paid $1100 for optional insurance at BCAA.

Live in Vancouver? How is your replacement cost only 70 bucks?

 

[Funkmobile]

Live in Vancouver? How is your replacement cost only 70 bucks?

Different definition of "total loss" compared to ICBC.

 

[fidodido]

Ya, it seems expensive to me as well. BCAA's Replacement Cost Plus is $200 (50% cost to repair) more than replacement cost (90%). Agent did mention their rates have jumped up quite a bit this year, did you get your policy last year?

Yes, that was last September pricing. I'm not sure how much it would increase this year.

Live in Vancouver? How is your replacement cost only 70 bucks?

Yeah, as Funkmobile mentioned, BCAA's total loss definition is different than ICBC (90% loss vs. 50%). BCAA offers replacement plus (50% loss) at a higher cost.
Replacement Cost Coverage | BCAA

 

[phtp]

Yes, that was last September pricing. I'm not sure how much it would increase this year.

Yeah, as Funkmobile mentioned, BCAA's total loss definition is different than ICBC (90% loss vs. 50%). BCAA offers replacement plus (50% loss) at a higher cost.
Replacement Cost Coverage | BCAA

In general, ICBC offers the same as BCAA in terms of 90% vs 50%. RC vs NVR+. Looks like you have replacement cost standard, that explains the big price difference than me as I have replacement cost plus with BCAA.

 

[ride365]

Where did you see the 50% commission rate?

This news report says,



and



Auto insurance brokers receive nearly 20 per cent commission when safest drivers get optional insurance

Your absolutely right. I don’t know where it got that 50% figure from. It’s around 20% which equates to about $400-450 per policy at full discount.

 

[Kevinfish]

Wow... BCAA quoted me 2200 and belairdirect is 1100...

 

[hiener]

Whoa, your BCAA quote is pretty expensive compared to mine.

 

[Werdna]

Whoa, your BCAA quote is pretty expensive compared to mine.

Yeah, mine was half that, though I didn't quote on Replacement Cost Plus.