ICBC sucks, customer survey says

Having moved from BC to Ontario I can assure you that ICBC is easier and cheaper than what's on offer in Ontario.

Having moved to BC from Alberta, I can assure you that ICBC is a pain in the neck and way more expensive than private offerings in that province.

I made the mistake of moving to Alberta for a job, many years ago. Insuring with Allstate was much easier and cheaper than ICBC. The problem was that private companies are very efficient at collecting premiums, but have no real interest in paying claims or assisting customers.

ICBC has its flaws, but compared to the private market it is brilliant.

What's funny about surveys like this is that most native British Columbians have never known anything other than ICBC. When they hear glowing accounts of cheap rates elsewhere, they get all excited.

Do some homework, folks. You'll find that the grass is NOT greener in other jurisdictions.

I moved here from the U.S. and my auto insurance is over twice what I paid in the U.S. - and I have a 43% discount as a good driver. No competition sucks. I'm sure it seemed a good idea at the time, but as a quasi private/government corporation, ICBC must now make a profit for itself as well as for the province. Canadian consumers are being ripped off big time. Bring back competition!!!

@bobo: You're quite wrong, actually. You can pay a lot less in some places, but you will never know what you're buying until you make a claim. The reality is that ICBC pays claims fairer, easier and faster than any private company in Canada or the US. Period.

You get what you pay for, pal.

As for the merits of a public vs private corporation, guess what. ICBC "profits" are kept right here in BC - not sent down to the US or to Europe.

I remember the bad old days of private car insurance in BC, and how slippery and slitherin' these private insurance companies were when it came time to paying a claim. My brother lives in Alberta, and he has nothing complimentary to say about the private auto insurance business. Those auto insurance companies doing business in Alberta are just as slippery and slitherin' as the BC companies used to be. Not that ICBC is perfect, of course, but the system does work.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill when he described democracy, ICBC can be described as "the worst possible way to provide automobile insurance, except for all the rest."

Curious who commissioned/ paid for the survey? Sounds like a good start to the government justifying the sell-off of yet another crown corporation to their friends.

having moved here from Ont and since seen my insurance go from reasonable to outofthisworld high and I'm almost 50 been driving for 30+ yrs and am paying $1700 for a 6 month policy?
ICBC SUCKS

ICBC is a monopoly, that is the problem. They have no competitive pressures to improve their service. Typical socialist idiocy.

Besides the most important points mentioned here in the post, some, if not all, of their phone line representatives really need to be properly educated in principles of customer service. Speaking from my personal experience, the one I talked to was impolite,impatient and self-righteous. What kind of customer service representative would irritably tell you they don't understand what you are talking about when you throw important questions to them about your claim? How about a contemptuous "bye" after you said "thank you for the information”? What is it with your attitude- playing god?

Please at least show some effort to try to understand your customers' frustrations when going throw their claims. You really should not forget who is paying YOUR bills.