Opinion: One party says car insurance rates will double. The other says they stay low. Neither has shown a calculation
The BC NDP says a Conservative plan would double car insurance rates. The Conservatives say rates stay low. The voche.me editors looked for the numbers behind both.
This article is the opinion of the voche.me editors. The facts it relies on are listed with their sources at the end.
Two parties are telling drivers two opposite things this week.
The BC NDP says the Conservative plan "would double car insurance rates". The Conservative leader says his plan keeps rates "affordable for drivers".
We looked for the calculation behind each claim. We found none.
What started it
Daily Hive reported that Lorne Doerkson signed a letter dated September 29 to four groups: the Insurance Bureau of Canada, the Law Society of British Columbia, the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia and the B.C. branch of the Canadian Bar Association.
The letter commits a Conservative government to bring in a law in its first year. The law would restore the ability of people with serious injuries to seek compensation in court. He calls the result a hybrid system and names six provinces that have one.
"Everything's on the table, including opening auto insurance to private competition to drive down auto insurance rates and bringing back sensible limits on minor-injury claims," he wrote.
The letter became public on October 6.
What exists today
The public insurer, ICBC, runs a system called Enhanced Care. Victoria News reported that it began on May 1, 2021. A person injured in a crash gets care and recovery benefits, and cannot sue.
ICBC said the change took most legal costs out of the system and saved $1.5 billion. Daily Hive reported ICBC's own estimate that customers saved an average of $490, or 28 per cent, when they first renewed.
The Conservative claim has no number
Daily Hive read the letter and reported that it "does not provide a premium estimate or a detailed financial breakdown".
The party's plan page, posted on October 7, begins: "Low rates and justice for serious injuries in auto insurance." It gives no rate.
Mr. Doerkson's own answers changed in one day. Victoria News reported that on Tuesday he said, "I'm not promising anything." On Wednesday he said the party is "definitely committed to a hybrid". He added that limits on what lawyers can charge will come "when we go forward with our platform".
The NDP claim rests on one driver
David Eby and his party say the plan would double rates. A party statement on October 6 gave the reason: an Ernst and Young analysis shows that Alberta drivers pay twice as much.
Daily Hive described that study. It dates from 2022. ICBC commissioned it, with support from the public insurers of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. It compared 30 kinds of driver in nine provinces.
The figure that was cited is for one of the 30: an 18-year-old man, new to driving, with a 2012 Honda Civic. He paid $2,551 a year in British Columbia and $5,936 in Alberta. That is 2.3 times as much.
Daily Hive added a caution. Those figures "describe that particular driver profile, rather than the average premium paid by all drivers in either province".
So the claim compares one young driver, in one of the six provinces Mr. Doerkson named, using a study commissioned by the insurer whose system is being defended. The union that cited it, MoveUP, represents 5,000 ICBC workers.
The Conservatives rejected the figure. Daily Hive reported that they accused their opponents of using unsupported figures to alarm drivers.
A new promise, also without a cost
On October 8 the BC NDP promised to freeze rates for three more years, until spring 2030. The release says rates would then have been frozen for ten years.
It gives no figure for what three more years of frozen rates would cost the public insurer.
The people in the middle
Both sides talk about people with serious injuries. Mr. Doerkson said people with a catastrophic injury "must receive proper compensation and that is absolutely not happening in this province".
Mike Farnworth, the transportation minister and a BC NDP candidate, defended the current system. Daily Hive reported his argument that under the old one, people could wait years for a court decision and legal fees took close to one-third of their settlements. He said work to improve the system continues.
Neither party has said what a person with a life-changing injury would receive under its plan.
What can be said in their defence
A fair reader should weigh two points.
Mr. Doerkson says his platform is still to come. Daily Hive noted that the party may have planned to announce this later in the campaign.
The NDP did cite a real study, and ICBC's own figures show rates fell when the system changed in 2021.
We have weighed these points. A driver choosing between these parties has been told "double" by one and "low" by the other. One figure comes from a single driver profile. The other has no figure at all.
What we ask
Advance voting opens on October 16. Before that day:
The Conservative Party of BC should publish the yearly premium it expects under its hybrid system for three drivers: an 18-year-old with a first car, a 40-year-old with a family vehicle and a 70-year-old.
The BC NDP should publish the study's full table for all 30 driver profiles in every province it covers, and the cost of its rate freeze.
Both should say what a person with a life-changing injury would receive under their plan, in dollars.
Read the sources below and decide for yourself. Our other articles ask the Conservatives and the BC NDP what their promises cost. Election day is October 24, 2026.
Questions this story answers
What has Lorne Doerkson promised on car insurance?
Daily Hive reported that a letter from Lorne Doerkson dated September 29, 2026 commits a Conservative government to bring in a law in its first year that restores the ability of people with serious injuries to seek compensation in court. He proposes a hybrid system to replace the no-fault model of the public insurer, ICBC.
What is ICBC's no-fault system?
Victoria News reported that the system, called Enhanced Care, began on May 1, 2021. It gives anyone injured in a crash care and recovery benefits and removes the ability to sue. ICBC said the change took most legal costs out of the system and saved $1.5 billion, which it said led to lower rates.
Would the Conservative plan double car insurance rates?
The BC NDP and the union MoveUP say it would. The Conservatives reject that and say their opponents use unsupported figures. Daily Hive reported that the Conservative letter gives no premium estimate. The voche.me editors found no published calculation from either side of what a British Columbia driver would pay under a hybrid system.
Where does the 'double' figure come from?
A BC NDP statement points to an Ernst and Young analysis and says Alberta drivers pay twice as much. Daily Hive reported that the 2022 study compared 30 driver profiles in nine provinces. For one profile, an 18-year-old man with a 2012 Honda Civic, the yearly premium was $2,551 in British Columbia and $5,936 in Alberta.
Who paid for the insurance price study?
Daily Hive reported that the 2022 Ernst and Young study was commissioned by ICBC, with support from the public insurers of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. ICBC is the insurer whose system the Conservative Party of BC wants to change. The union that cited the study, MoveUP, represents 5,000 ICBC workers.
What did Lorne Doerkson say when asked about the letter?
Victoria News reported that on Tuesday, October 6, 2026 he said he was not promising anything. On Wednesday, October 7 he said his party is definitely committed to a hybrid system and will bring in limits on what lawyers can charge when it releases its platform.
What has the BC NDP promised on car insurance?
A BC NDP release of October 8, 2026 says David Eby would freeze car insurance rates for three more years, until spring 2030. The release says rates would then have been frozen for ten years. It gives no figure for what three more years of frozen rates would cost the public insurer.
What do the voche.me editors ask the two parties to publish?
The editors ask the Conservative Party of BC for the yearly premium it expects for three kinds of driver under its hybrid system. They ask the BC NDP for the full table of 30 driver profiles and for the cost of its rate freeze. They ask both for what a person with a life-changing injury would receive.
Who wrote this article?
The voche.me editors wrote it as an opinion article, and the conclusion is their own view. Each fact comes from a report by Daily Hive or Victoria News, from a BC NDP release or statement, or from the Conservative Party of BC plan page, and every source is listed with a link at the end.
Sources
The pages this story draws on. Open one to check a claim yourself.
- Daily Hive: Lorne Doerkson's B.C. Conservatives propose replacing ICBC's no-fault system, October 6, 2026dailyhive.com
- Victoria News: Leaders clash over B.C. Conservative letter to reverse ICBC no-fault insurance, October 7, 2026vicnews.com
- Conservative Party of BC: Insurance, October 7, 2026conservativebc.ca
- Indo-Canadian Voice: BC NDP statement on Doerkson's letter and car insurance rates, October 6, 2026voiceonline.com
- BC NDP release: Eby to freeze car insurance rates for another three years, October 8, 2026bcndp.ca
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