WHEREAS it is desirable for motorists to bear the full cost of travel, including the cost of damage to private and public property caused by collisions through insurance premiums; AND WHEREAS the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia ICBC is required by law to compensate private property owners for hit and run damage to private property, but not local governments for hit and run damage to public infrastructure: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the regulations to the Insurance Motor Vehicle Act, and specifically s.107 of B.C. Regulation 44783, be amended so that hit and run damage costs incurred by local governments are recoverable from ICBC.
Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General Each Canadian jurisdiction has a fund established to compensate victims of unidentified hit and run motorists. Except in jurisdictions with public automobile insurance, these claim payments are generally restricted to injury claims only. The Province of British Columbias Province fund is administered and paid for by Insurance Corporation of British Columbia ICBC policyholders through basic premiums. In addition to injury claims, it also includes compensation for the uninsured part of property damage claims subject to a 750 deductible; however, an exemption applies to certain types of property. While the Provinces fund already provides better protection than funds in most other Canadian jurisdictions, it was never intended to extend to public infrastructure near a highway. Premiums collected for the fund are calculated on the basis that certain types of claims are exempt. If the fund were to take on new costs, ICBCs Basic premiums would need to reflect that new cost which would require ICBC to seek approval for an equivalent rate increase from the BC Utilities Commission. Municipalities obtain most of their funding from property taxes and use these monies to pay for common services for the community, including maintaining municipal property. Transferring costs from one rate payer group to another rate payer group would result in many of the same people paying and ultimately would not achieve any efficiencies.