Car Insurance in first 90 days before you get full BC Licence from ICBC

[Ricky]

Dear

I have full over two years old driving licence from United kingdom which According to ICBC is perfectly valid in BC. According to ICBC I can excnage the license with full BC Licence once i Get my PR Card but I am still good to drive around for 90 days.

my question is :

1. Whether I can buy car during this period and ICBC will insure me for first 90 days.

Regards

Ricky

 

[Baloo]

Dear

I have full over two years old driving licence from United kingdom which According to ICBC is perfectly valid in BC. According to ICBC I can excnage the license with full BC Licence once i Get my PR Card but I am still good to drive around for 90 days.

my question is :

1. Whether I can buy car during this period and ICBC will insure me for first 90 days.

Regards

Ricky

You are better off changing the license ASAP, some insurers don't like non-Canadian licenses.

 

[PMM]

Hi

You are better off changing the license ASAP, some insurers don't like non-Canadian licenses.

1. In BC you have to buy basic insurance from ICBC.
2. If you wish to get the discount on your insurance you need a No Claims letter from your insurance company in the UK, not the agent. The format is here: http://www.icbc.com/autoplan/moving/moving-to

 

[Baloo]

Hi

1. In BC you have to buy basic insurance from ICBC.
2. If you wish to get the discount on your insurance you need a No Claims letter from your insurance company in the UK, not the agent. The format is here: http://www.icbc.com/autoplan/moving/moving-to

1 - Isn't the remainder of the insurance from a separate company?

 

[PMM]

Hi

1 - Isn't the remainder of the insurance from a separate company?

Not necessarily. You have to buy the basic from ICBC and you can either buy the optional from ICBC or a private company. An Autoplan office, will price both options for you.

 

[Ricky]

Thanks PMM and Baloo

So that definately means that I can Buy a Car and get it insured and then change my license to BC as I dont know when My PR Card will Arrive???

 

[Ricky]

Finally Got 2003 Civic sports and got it insured from ICBC for $273 p.m. I think I need to get my NCB from previous Insurance companies to claim some discount. Cant believe its more expensive then of UK.

 

[PMM]

Hi

Finally Got 2003 Civic sports and got it insured from ICBC for $273 p.m. I think I need to get my NCB from previous Insurance companies to claim some discount. Cant believe its more expensive then of UK.

1. Get it from the insurance company, not the agent in the format on ICBC;s web site. 8 years would save you about %45

 

[steaky]

Finally Got 2003 Civic sports and got it insured from ICBC for $273 p.m. I think I need to get my NCB from previous Insurance companies to claim some discount. Cant believe its more expensive then of UK.

5 years can save you 25%.

 

[jazibkg]

Wow, $273 per month? That's a serious rip-off! Even getting off 25-45% discount it still sounds heavily expensive. I wish car owners weren't so penalized, going through the driver licensing process in BC right now and reading the above posts definitely has not been encouraging as it doesn't seem I'll be able to afford to drive.

 

[mikenz]

I pay $118.00 for my big V8 truck per month. Including over 10 years driving experience and 30% bonus.. so definitely more expensive than most countries.

 

[mooer]

Wow, $273 per month? That's a serious rip-off! Even getting off 25-45% discount it still sounds heavily expensive. I wish car owners weren't so penalized, going through the driver licensing process in BC right now and reading the above posts definitely has not been encouraging as it doesn't seem I'll be able to afford to drive.

We came with a letter from our previous insurer (not broker - this was hard to obtain!!) and got a discount of 25% (equivalent to five years). The cost was still a little over $1200 for the year for a normal car.

We are on a temporary work permit and got our BC license straight away - you don't need a PR card at all.

Cheers
Amanda

 

[jazibkg]

We came with a letter from our previous insurer (not broker - this was hard to obtain!!) and got a discount of 25% (equivalent to five years). The cost was still a little over $1200 for the year for a normal car.

We are on a temporary work permit and got our BC license straight away - you don't need a PR card at all.

Cheers
Amanda

Thank you for your reply. I wish I had a longer no claims discount, I owned a car in the UK for 5 months only (and sold it later as I was unable to afford the astronomical car insurance of £137/month, plus MOT, tax and running costs). Hence, I did not accumulate any no claims bonus annually.

Previously, I have driven in Pakistan for 4-6 years or so, where car insurance is not a requirement and I used to drive my mother's car (so even if I had insurance it would not have been in my name). Never been in an accident. But sadly I have no documentation to prove I am a safe driver. But now that I am over 25 I guess I may be able to obtain affordable insurance? Remains to be seen, I'll see the quote given by the ICBC monopoly when I decide to buy a car.