By Stanley Ugagbe
In what can be said to be a major blow to the defaulters, more than 400 customers have been hit with heavy penalties for failing to properly list the drivers of their vehicle under ICBC’s new rules. The customers face fines averaging $3,000.
It would be recalled that the provincial Crown Corporation had in September last year introduced a new rate model designed to better align the cost of insurance with a driver’s risk level.
The Nigerian Canadian News gathered that among the changes was the addition of the Unlisted Driver Accident Premium — a stiff charge that customers can face after a crash caused by someone who regularly drives the vehicle, yet who isn’t listed on the policy.
However, ICBC avoided the f-word in their recent statement reminding customers about UDAP, which is simply a one-time financial charge for doing something that you’re not allowed to do anymore.
The body had stated under the new rules that customers purchasing insurance are required to list everyone who will drive the vehicle for 12 days or more in a calendar year so that their premium accurately reflects the combined risk of all drivers.
According to the body, the purpose of this adjustment is to reduce fraud “and better ensure customers don’t choose intentionally to avoid listing higher-risk drivers on their policy.”
A crash that reveals the fraud triggers UDAP. While the cost varies by case because it’s calculated, in part, after reassessing a policyholder’s premiums with the higher-risk driver now included, the average amount is about $2,971.
In the recent statement made available to newsmen, ICBC stated that an estimated 444 B.C. drivers are facing this charge.
In their bid to clarify their assertion, the insurance corporation offered an example of a Metro Vancouver couple in their fifties.
Delineating on the development, the body succinctly averred that one person had no crashes on their record while their partner had three at-fault crashes in 2018, and thus was not listed on the policy — which was calculated at $2,800, rather than $3,900 — as a result.
The body continued that a fourth at-fault accident this year triggered UDAP and the couple was assessed an $8,140 charge before ICBC waived an optional portion of the premium adjustment, reducing the charge to $5,000.
According to the statement, the body is offering this same adjustment to anyone else affected in the first year of the new rules.
The statement said “Recognizing that this new model is an adjustment for British Columbians, ICBC is waiving the optional portion of this charge for crashes that happen before September 1, 2020”.
Also, the body clarified that all funds collected from UDAP go toward lowering premiums for other drivers.
