Phoenix Gold Phorum

Jeeezus even though I started preparing my car for inspection, insurance, etc. in BC a month before leaving Calgary, and hit the ground running when I got here, there's still no chance of getting everything done within the required 30 days.

Oh you need a drivers license? That will be 2-3 weeks in the mail. Thanks.

Oh you need an inspection? We are backed up for a week. Oh you wanted to remove your tint by yourself instead of paying us another $150 to scrape some film off of glass? Your re-inspection will have to wait another week. And aren't you grateful we're not charging you again for it?

You want your insurance claims history? Well you have to take this form to your insurance broker, fax it to us, and then maybe in 2-4 weeks we will contact your 4 insurance providers to fax them your claims history. No we won't give it to you in advance so you can bring it in in person, that would be preposterous!


So far i've spent about $1000 and countless hours getting everything sorted out. Almost daily i've had to call DMVs, insurance agencies, etc. to get them to send form A to company B so that they can submit form C to company D. What is all this bullshit? Why is the onus on the driver to know the internal workings of insurance agencies? Why can't these asshole corporations just figure this shit out themselves? Why do I have to call them every day to see if they've received a fax or not?

Today is the 30th day i've been living in BC and the deadline to get my insurance. My claims history is still weeks away from getting to the insurance broker here, so I have to pay full price for my insurance up front ($3000), as if I had never sat behind the wheel of a car before. Then, when my claims history finally does come in (must be in company letterhead from the four different insurance providers i've had over the years), do I get a discount? NO! I have to fight with ICBC (BC's crown insurance corporation) to get that money, and that will take 6 months, at best. Will my broker help me? Haha... no... it's my fault that it takes insurance companies more than 30 days to supply a fucking letter that says I have had no claims.

I've done everything by the book, and the book says I'm fucked. Jesus H Christ.

$3000, wow is that in Canadian money, or Russian money?

Welcome to your new world of socialism. In BC, if fewer than 5 civil servants don't touch your request, then it must be invalid.

BC is chock a block a full of Asian drivers. Insurance rates directly reflect that demographic. And the fact that it is government run insurance, your premuims must support the drug injection sites, the public housing, all the eco-initiatives, the civil service pension plan, the anti gun campaigns, the ........

HH

Doc - $3K CAD. Simply a disgustingly rude figure. The going rate if your under 30, not married and have outside plumbing.

kinda glad I'm not going to canada now........damn that sucks

Shit was easy with me. I got the company letter head faxed over to me and they did it quickly. When I registered my truck, I didn't need a BC license yet.

My driving history is less complicated than yours though, having only one insurance company in my past.

I don't get why you'd have to pay $3000 up front though, even considering that's the without any history papers. I had < 1 year of driving before coming to BC and it was just over $2000 for me to have the same insurance you got.

Do you still have the AB plates? Just fucking wait longer than 30 days and tell them to eat a dick. I drove for three months with AB plates, registration and insurance and it wasn't a big deal. Just don't crash and try to claim with your AB company as they might fight you on it.

HoseHead wrote:Welcome to your new world of socialism. In BC, if fewer than 5 civil servants don't touch your request, then it must be invalid.

BC is chock a block a full of Asian drivers. Insurance rates directly reflect that demographic. And the fact that it is government run insurance, your premuims must support the drug injection sites, the public housing, all the eco-initiatives, the civil service pension plan, the anti gun campaigns, the ........

HH

Doc - $3K CAD. Simply a disgustingly rude figure. The going rate if your under 30, not married and have outside plumbing.

It was a bit of a shock, considering I was only paying $850 for full comprehensive commuter car insurance with a $250 deductible in Calgary.

However, that was only after the Alberta courts limited the amount of money you could get for soft tissue injuries. Before that I was paying $2000+/yr for the same coverage (depending on my age), which is par with BC for the same driving history. They do not have the same cap on soft tissue damage that Alberta does. Note that this ruling has been overturned and upheld a handful of times already, so I do see Alberta insurance rates rising once more when it is overturned again.

When my claims history gets in, I will be paying $1100 for basic $1mil liability coverage on a pleasure vehicle (no commuting since I work from home). The $3000 figure was comprehensive assuming zero driving history, so I would be in the same boat as any 16 year old snot nosed kid. ICBC tries not to be ageist or sexist, so your claims history is the only thing that gets you a discount. Every year of claims free driving (up to 8 years) gets you a 5% discount in your rates.

The problem is the onus is on the driver to get the claims history, and since Alberta is a free market, I have had to shop around endlessly to find the best insurance rate, because as they can charge whatever they want based on their own internal statistics (age, sex, marital status, etc). As such there are four different insurance companies I have to harass to get my claims history. I tried to get them to send me the claim history before I left for BC, but they insisted that it had to be faxed directly from them (as it turns out, this is bullshit).

So really, my frustrations are not with ICBC, but with being forced to have 4 insurance companies in Alberta just to get a good rate, and now having to harass them endlessly to get my claims history sent off in a reasonable amount of time. I personally like the ICBC system. Rates do not depend on age, marital status, gender, or the company you choose. The base rate is equal for everyone, and you get a discount based on how many years you've driven with no accidents. Period. ICBC is also a break-even system, so the insurance you pay is what it cost them last year. Yes there are more shitty FOB drivers here, and tons of city traffic to get through, so insurance rates are high in general.

fuzzysnuggleduck wrote:Shit was easy with me. I got the company letter head faxed over to me and they did it quickly. When I registered my truck, I didn't need a BC license yet.

My driving history is less complicated than yours though, having only one insurance company in my past.

I don't get why you'd have to pay $3000 up front though, even considering that's the without any history papers. I had < 1 year of driving before coming to BC and it was just over $2000 for me to have the same insurance you got.

Do you still have the AB plates? Just fucking wait longer than 30 days and tell them to eat a dick. I drove for three months with AB plates, registration and insurance and it wasn't a big deal. Just don't crash and try to claim with your AB company as they might fight you on it.

True, I got my BC license as a matter of convenience, since I happened to be shopping for insurance at Metrotown, right next to the DMV office. Still sucks that they took my Alberta license, and gave me a piece of paper to replace it with. I would have preferred to keep that.

Yeah the real issue is having 4 insurance providers over 8 years. My most recent company, Intact insurance, even said it would take them 2-3 weeks to send off the claims history form. I think that's bullshit, considering you are limited to 30 days to get insurance, including all the other hoops you have to jump through.

The $3000 was assuming comprehensive coverage. It would be closer to $2000 if I just went with liability.... not bad for a "new" driver, considering I was paying $2800/yr in Calgary for liability when I first started driving at 18, before the soft tissue legislation went through.

I do still have Alberta plates and insurance, and I will probably continue to drive on them, since I don't feel like paying full rate up front and then fighting ICBC for a rebate. If the insurance company heard I was here for more than 30 days though, they would rescind coverage, and I would pretty much be an uninsured driver here. So I better not get into any accidents in the meantime...

Welcome to your new world of socialism. In BC, if fewer than 5 civil servants don't touch your request, then it must be invalid.

BC is chock a block a full of Asian drivers. Insurance rates directly reflect that demographic. And the fact that it is government run insurance, your premuims must support the drug injection sites, the public housing, all the eco-initiatives, the civil service pension plan, the anti gun campaigns, the ........

Don't worry, with America's current trend of getting the government involved in the automotive industry, banking, and possibly health care, you won't be alone in your frustration with socialism.

Is this now the socialism strawman argument thread? I thought this was about car insurance?

here........ well, the Germans needed a single letter and they accepted. Then when we came here they didn't want to accept the 12 / 15 years no claims - as told by the Germans, so they gave us 45% and full NC on the third-party. Now we're at full whack on both, so it's only a 70% discount. But no glass coverage.
The Germans count to 30 years

you're not alone in the jungle, it's a pain. And then they find another hoop...
I tend to call people and explain why I need this thing *now* - I've tried to follow the rules and it doesn't work - escalation is good
Having said that, it's easy here where there is someone and a company actually wants to sell you something. I called for my Green card and dropped my premium by 40%. Not bad, eh.

Bret

Gotta love the cheap insurance for vehicles in sask doesn't matter how old you are or how bad your driving record is there is flat rates for insuring vehicles. My truck is $752 my honda cbr is $342 and my summer fun truck is $656 and my quad trailer is $48 for a total of $1798/year plus $25/year for my drivers license. The bad drivers do get nailed they pay for it with $25/point on their license.

Yeah Saskatchewan insurance is so unfair. Most people who moved to Calgary would keep their plates as long as possible.

When I moved to BC I kept my ONT plates. I figured I'd give it 6 months to see if I wanted to stay and the plan was if stopped.... to say I just moved in. Saved a whole PITA when I came back a year later.

Yeah, the book has screwed me so far. Everyone seems to go way over the 30 days... I did my best but I think I am going to tell the book to go fuck itself. I will switch over only when they get my history.

Damn, move to the US and don't worry with that crap

^^ Instead you can worry about Health Insurance. No thanks.

Me-262 wrote:^^ Instead you can worry about Health Insurance. No thanks.

Yeah right now my prescriptions are total just under $30000.00/month living in the states sounds real great to me too

In la you have to have proof of insurance and extreme smog checks to get tabs for your car, and if you get pulled over without proof of insurance they can impound your car.

They also passed a law that you can not buy any aftermarket cats of any kind, oem or not. You HAVE to go threw a factory dealership, if you are caught putting on anything yourself you are looking at a large fine...