14 —- Sunday, February 16, 1997 — North Shore News o-fault insurance debated By Deana Lancaster Contributing Writer ICBC public relations manager Ken Hardie says the controversy surrounding no-fault auto insurance is like a many-layered onion. Hardie debated the merits of the no-fault system at a recent meeting held in North Vancouver. The issue is a hot one these days. In December, Andrew -Petter, minister responsible -for ICBC, appointed Doug ~ Allen to head up a review of our auto insurance system. . His repert is due at the end of this month. ~The review is to consider options which will allow the province to extend the insur- ance-rate freeze. No-fault, or “injury insur- ance” in a number of pure and combined forms has been pro- posed by KPMG, a consulting company hired by ICBC. Hardie explained the dif- ferences to the audience at the Avalon Hotel. Under the current system, insurance covers your lability costs should you cause an accident. If you are at fault in an accident, or in a single-car accident, or even if your car spontaneously burns and you are injured, you will not be compensated for your injuries. “A lot of pcople fall through the cracks simply because they have no one to sue,” Hardie said. Under an injury insurance system, you would purchase insurance that, in the event of an accident, would pay for your medical and rehabilita- tion costs if you are injured, whether or not you are at faulr. The amount of the award would already be set in your policy. The plan, said Hardie, could save auto owners as much as 12% on their premi- ums depending on the degree of no-fauit implemented. Where would those savings be realized from? From legal fees, said Hardie. ICBC literature esti- mates lawyers specializing in ICBC claims charged about $130 million in legal fees last year. Opponents point out that many of those fees were paid by the claimants and not y ICBC. Under an injury insurance system, the amount of injury compensation is agreed upon before an accident occurs. lawyers would be cut out. Under a combined system (injury insurance combined with liability insurance), injured victims could still sue if their damages exceed “the defined threshold.” Hardie also said ICBC would like to reinvest money saved by a new system in traf- fic safety initiatives. He called it trend management. More layers of the onion were peeled away by ICBC critic and North Vancouver- Seymour MLA Dan Jarvis, “There’s no question that we afl want better car insur- ‘Drug trend reaches North Shore | From pages : “tal, and young people in particular, Straith points out that heroin use has increased. and is becoming trendy across Canada. That trend i is showing uP on the North Shore. “This used to be thought of as an east side of Vancouver problem. It is not. It is said Straith. North Vancouver provincial court Judge Doug Moss gave Aldrich a condi- in our community,” Lx y es cou tional discharge and 12 months’ proba- tion, ‘J A conditional discharge does not carry a criminal record. Aldrich did not have any previous criminal convictions. “NOTICE OF PRE-HEARING CONFERENCE. BC Gas Utility Led. 1998- 2002 Performance Based Rate Plan Time: Date: “9; 00 am." * . -. Brida ay, February 28, 1997 Location: Commission Hearing Room 6th Floor, 900 Howe Street Vancouver, B.C. ved licy Led. CBC Ges”) applied to the Commission on February 5, 1997 for review and approval to establish a method for. setting che revenue requirement ¢ of BC Gas for the years 1998-2002. The Application nly to the rates of che Lower Mainland, Inland and Columbia service ureas and does not relate to rvice area. The races under tariffs, referred to as “Non-Captive”, are not subject co ision by reason of this Application. "BC Gas also seeks approval for Orders concerning ¢ che Overhead ization n Policy id the ¢ continuation of various: ‘deferral accounts as outlined in the Application. ° ‘completeness of the Application © identification of principal issues : © process (workshops, information requests, settlement negotiations) _ © other matters that will enable the hearing to efficiently cover “and review all aspects of the Application, PUBLIC INSPECTION OF THE APPLICATION {The Application is available for public inspection at the following I locations: - BC Gas Utility Led. . Head Office: 1111 Wese Georgia Street, Vancouver, B.C. VGE 4M4 . Districe Offices: Kelowna, Penticton, Kamloops, Prince George and Cranbrook, B.C. . "An Executive Summary of the Application is available to interested parties upon request from BC Gas at no charge. ’ Copies of the Application and supporting material are also available for inspection at the office of the British Columbia Utilities Commission, Sixth Floor, 900 Howe Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6Z 2N3. INTERVENTIONS _ Incervenors and interested parties who would like co receive a copy of the Application should iramediacely - Fequest a copy from BC Gas and inform the Commission, in writing, by February 28, 1997 of their intention co intervene and/or atcend the Pre-Hearing Conference. " CLARIFICATION _ Persons intending to participate in che Pre-Hearing Conference and who are uncertain as to che macter in which to proceed may contact Mr. Robert J. Peilacc, Commission Secretary, the Information Services Group, or Mr. Barry McKinlay, Manager - Rates and Finance, by telephone at 660-4700, or B.C. Toll Free: 1-800- 663-1385, or in writing to the above address or via facsimile to 660-1102; The Commission can also be reached on the Internet and the Government Electronic Mail System (“GEMS”) at bcuc@pop.gov.bc.ca . By Order, Robert J. Pellate, Commission Secretary ance,” said Jarvis. “But expe- rience in other jurisdictions shows rates do not go down. They go up. (No-fault) has a bad, bad track record.” Jarvis called the rate freeze Glen Clark introduced “a political trick before the clec- tion.” He said no-fault is being pushed to support the rate freeze. “I fail ta see how we can support a system that rewards bad drivers. That is funda- mentally wrong,” he said. But according to Hardie, if combined injury insurance is implemented, reckless or impaired drivers (based on police charges) would not be compensated for their injuries. Jim Ball, vice-president of the Insurance. Brokers Association of Canada, was the final speaker at the debate. He said his views are based on the best option for his cus- tomers. His choice is a combined system, He said the current system has a downside. “For those who made a mistake and are not bad dri- vers, they are not compensat- ed enough.” He said he thinks it is important that those with seri- ous injuries still have access to the courts. Ball agreed that there is too much government inter- ference in ICBC. “After every election there is a roll back or a rate freeze ... if we can keep the politics out ~ of it I think the customer:is :. going to be a winner,” he said: FOCUS ON THE FUTURE A child looks ahead. to a future full of: rapid changes and: new technologies. YOUR B.C. » aaseelan MEMBERS ON THE NO br. NOOZHAN ASHRAF 169-171 W. Esplanade, NVan 988-4455 OPTOMETRY Or. Andreas J. Weimar Dr. Akbar Hakimzadeh 499-801 Marine Dr, N. Van 987-0978 DR. ANOINETTE DUMALO 128 E. 15th, N. Van 987-6554 HOLLYBURN EVE CLINIC Or. Saida Lal 103 - 1760 a Marine t Or, DW. Van panei OR. 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