ICBC will refuse to offer basic insurance on vehicles worth more than $150,000 once the law is changed next spring, said Stone.
Luxury car owners will have to go to private companies to get basic insurance. ICBC will maintain its monopoly on basic insurance for everyone else.
Until the law is changed, high-end drivers will find their premiums doubled to cover the skyrocketing cost of repairing their vehicles, which Stone said is now being borne by ordinary ratepayers. The change doesn’t apply to limos, trucks, motorhomes or collector vehicles.
It costs up to six times as much to repair luxury cars in an accident as an ordinary vehicle, and the number of luxury vehicles on the road has risen 30 per cent to 3,000 in the past three years, said Stone.
ICBC officials illustrated the situation by pointing out repairs to the bumper on a Ferrari cost $6,000 compared to $390 for a Toyota Corolla, and yet the basic insurance premiums for drivers of both vehicles were comparably priced.
The number of super-high-end exotic sports cars has nearly doubled over the past six years on Metro Vancouver streets, from 1,300 vehicles in 2009 to 2,500 in 2015.