Personal Finance

Is BCAA worth it?

  • Last Updated:
  • Dec 30th, 2019 10:21 am
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Deal Addict
Aug 19, 2014
1658 posts
2172 upvotes

Is BCAA worth it?

I just did my car insurance and it's now crazy expensive despite the fact that i never had any accident for 10+ years. It went up about $300/year.
I checked optional coverage on BCAA and quote is about $900 compare to $1300 (optional only) with ICBC.

So is going to BCAA worth it? I will be saving about $400 a year. Those who dealt with them before, is it as easy as dealing with ICBC? What i want to know is how difficult is it to deal with them when you get into an accident or making a claim for hit and run?

Thanks in advance.
7 replies
Deal Fanatic
Oct 7, 2007
9404 posts
5374 upvotes
chhotadon wrote: I just did my car insurance and it's now crazy expensive despite the fact that i never had any accident for 10+ years. It went up about $300/year.
I checked optional coverage on BCAA and quote is about $900 compare to $1300 (optional only) with ICBC.

So is going to BCAA worth it? I will be saving about $400 a year. Those who dealt with them before, is it as easy as dealing with ICBC? What i want to know is how difficult is it to deal with them when you get into an accident or making a claim for hit and run?

Thanks in advance.
I know the car insurance premiums are now all over the place for us drivers in BC. It seems that the premiums are now driven by a driving history component such that the number of years of accident free driving is a big determinant in how much discount we get. For young drivers, the fact they can only have a limited number of years of safe driving prevents them from access to the same discount, unfortunately.

As far as using private insurance for some of your insurance, I have no idea. I have always stayed with ICBC because I have typically felt by keeping everything with them, there will be no excuse for either insurer to cover me should I run into an accident. The thinking is that by dealing with just ICBC, they have no excuse to not cover me in the event of an accident and I can "yell" all I want at them if they don't fulfill their part of the agreement. I have had problems with insurance companies in non-auto claims before and it can be very, very frustrating because the insurer's business model seems to be all about not paying out claims and then deferring paying claims as long as they can should they have to honour the claim.

In the past, I have never had any real problems with ICBC (although you can tell it is government when you deal with them) but then I have also not pursued some smaller claims on my vehicle just because I couldn't be bothered. One time the City's garbage truck broke my gate and I called it in but never bothered putting in a claim. Another time a woman hit my parked car and drove away. I ended up locating the woman and got her details but then didn't bother pursuing it either because I couldn't be bothered. Perhaps in some small way I felt that I was saving the government a small amount of money for damages that I was entitled to but could not be bothered to go to the trouble of resolving. Hopefully somewhere in my credit rating with ICBC I get credit for that.
Deal Guru
Feb 9, 2009
12381 posts
11307 upvotes
I legit thought you meant if branch chained amico acids are worth taking ... by the way they are!
Last edited by Sanyo on Dec 28th, 2019 4:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Deal Addict
Nov 8, 2017
1556 posts
894 upvotes
Mine's more or less the same as it was before, but I haven't been in a accident in over 10 years , but I get a speeding ticket every couple years
Deal Addict
Aug 19, 2014
1658 posts
2172 upvotes
User455957 wrote: Mine's more or less the same as it was before, but I haven't been in a accident in over 10 years , but I get a speeding ticket every couple years
How much driving experience you have if you don't mind me asking? Seems like young drivers with less than 15 years of experience with no accident are getting the ding. They will have fun when less drivers get any insurance after this change.
Deal Addict
Nov 8, 2017
1556 posts
894 upvotes
chhotadon wrote: How much driving experience you have if you don't mind me asking? Seems like young drivers with less than 15 years of experience with no accident are getting the ding. They will have fun when less drivers get any insurance after this change.
since 2005, I got into an accident(rear ended a transit supervisor) 2010. 2011 I got my car impounded for a week for excessive speeding (142 in a 90 zone) and fined 400$ , and then paid a driver's risk premium every year for 3 years after of about 400

I've got a couple speed tickets between then and now.

Don't know how they calculated it, but I thought I would have been raped for sure
Deal Addict
May 16, 2017
2809 posts
3663 upvotes
I've only once used an alternative for "usual" automobile insurance vs ICBC because it saved so little as not to be worth the potential hassle. BCAA is as good as any, I suppose, if you've taken a big hit with the new ICBC rates (I've got the max possible discounts and a 40+ yr driving history, so still not much incentive for me to look elsewhere). The only other alternative auto insurance I've bought lately is for replacement value on a 1-yr old lease-return vehicle I recently purchased - it also covers my deductible with ICBC. I've used BCAA insurance for travel and they were no hassle for a claim when my daughter got stranded in the UK after the Icelandic volcanic eruption several years back.
Banned
User avatar
Jul 17, 2008
11042 posts
3878 upvotes
They only took at fault claims since 2017.

Speeding tickets don't affect insurance. Under the old system you would just pay an annual penalty if you had over 3 demerit points. Not sure if they kept that model for tickets

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