AUTOM OT il

YE S

25 ~ Friday, November 24, 1989 - North Share News

Regions help dictate Autoplan rates

THE RECENTLY-
ANNOUNCED
changes to Autoplan
included something
more than the expected
increase in auto in-
surance premiums.

This year, ICBC made
some major adjustments to
its territorial rating system
for 1990.

AutoTopic

Ken Hardie

These adjustments raised a
number of questions about
the way ICBC determines
premiums for various areas
and different vehicie uses.
Tne key to grasping this
process is to understand
what we mean by ‘claims
experience.””

Claims experience is a
description of motorists who
are grouped in terms of
where they live, how they
use their vehicles, the
coverages they purchase and
the number and cost of the
claims they make. The goal
is to charge enough in
premiums to pay for the
claims.

Say, for instance, we
wanted to determine the
comprehensive coverage
premium we would charge
for people driving to or from
work in Kamlocps. We
would have to consider how
raany of those motorists had
comprehensive coverage
claims and how much money
those claims took from the
insurance fund.

If our experience with this
group of Kamloops drivers
indicated that they had more
comprehensive claims than a
similar group in Prince
George and that those claims
were on everage morc ex-
pensive, the Kamloops
drivers would pay more for
comprehensive coverage.

We are able io track
claims experience through

the use of postal codes. If
you had a collision or com-
prehensive ciaim, or if
someone makes a claim
against your third party lia-
bility coverage, that will add
to the claims experience for
your area no matter where
the accident occurred.

If someone from Quesnel
smacks into your car in a
North Vancouver parking
fot, it will be Quesnel’s
claims experience that will
suffer. Similarly, if two
motorists from Nanaimo
crash at Marine Drive and
Taylor Way, the claims will
come home to roost in
Nanaimo.

An example closer to
home helps explain the
reason we increased the
number of territorics to 15
from six for 1990.

Up to now, motorists in
Maple Ridge and Pitt
Meadows have been included
in one larze territory exten-
ding all the way up the
Fraser Valley to Chilliwack.
However, with Vazcouver’s
eastern expansion, these
areas have seen a great deal
of development and many
people now commute from
Maple Ridge and Pitt
Meadows ta work places
across the Lower Mainland.

It became obvious that the
claims experience in these
areas was becoming more
like that of the Lower
Mainland rather than the
remainder of the Fraser
Valley. The premiums in this
new rating territory are now
higher than for the rest of
the valley, but still lower
than those in the Lower
Mainland which are, you
guessed it, the highest in the
province.

On the other hand, some
motorists in the Kootenays
will see their 1990 Autoplan
premiums go down because
of the better claims experi-
ence in that area.

ICBC statistics have also
shown that the claims record
for motorists who insure
their vehicles in the Pleasure
Use Only category is becom-
ing closer to the experience
of those who drive to or
from work. Thus, the
premium ‘‘gap’’ between
these two rate classes will
close a bit in 1990.

Check fires
before wilhrter

PALL HAS arrived and with
it all of its seasonal ques-
tiens: Should 1 switch to
winter tires or keep my ali-
season tires? Is it time to buy
new tires?

You may be planning to
switch to winter tires,
because of their inherent
safety quaiities for driving
over snowy and icy roads. In
fact, if you live in an area
receiving a high amount cf
snow precipitation and often
drive on secondary roads,
four good winter tires con-
stitute your best choicc.

On the other hand, if for a
matter of cost and practical-
ity you decide to buy ail-
season tires, make sure you
choose quality products;
don't forget those same tires
will have to provide equally
good performance all year
long. ‘

You may also choose to
keep the all-season tires
presently on your car. At
this point, it would be wise
to verify their condition, to
make sure they still have a
good amount of tread and
show no signs of uneven
wear due to misalignment,
imbalance, or other
mechanical problem. If you
have any doubts, have them
checked.

Also keep in mind that
all-season tires and all tires
on front-wheel drive cars re-
quire periodical rotation —
every 12,000 km — to
achieve a uniform wear of
all tires on the vehicle.

Front and rear wheel tires
wear differently, especially
on front-wheel drive vehi-
cles. Rotating the tires in-
sures a longer tire life.

eee

A reminder to watch the
CBC Foruin program on

NORTH VANCOUVERS

traffic safety tomorrow
night (Saturday) at 9 p.m.
We would like to hear your
suggestions on how to make

a

our streets and highways
safer.
If you have any questions

zbout Autopian for 19£°0,

SALES
HCURS
eS MON-THURS

write to Auto Topics, care of
the North Shore News, 1139
Lonsdale Avenue, North
Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4.

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