Beware driving in British Columbia

There is, of course, more to this story. The important thing is to make sure that you are adequately insured since any claims will always go against your insurance policy. It is important to note that their new law is an effort to reduce insurance rates and lawsuits while increasing medical coverage.

Its called a no-fault system. You have them almost anywhere else, so why not auto insurance. Get injured at work? You don't sue your employer, you have workers compensation insurance. Get injured in a fight? You don't have to sue the attacker, you to go hospital and have medical insurance. Many jurisdictions have them.

And you are kidding yourself if you think the tort system creates "accountability". If I cause an accident, my insurance pays for it, not me. No accountability for me.

Is it normal not to have collision coverage on your vehicle in Washington?? How about we point the accountability at the couple for not having having proper insurance for where they were going to be. I'm sorry it happened, but lesson learned. I'm also stunned by the ignorance of the TV reporter. This is bordering on ugly American stuff. The report could have been a solid story as a warning of what could happen, but it seems to me it started to go into ugly American territory by implying that Americans do it this way, so why doesn't everyone else.

No fault insurance is a controversial topic in Alberta right now as insurance rates continue to climb, but it seems like the only people arguing against it are the ambulance-chasing lawyers; which in my mind makes me wonder if no-fault insurance is the way to go.

Well, I’m just horrified that people ,like this couple, are driving around without complete insurance coverage on their vehicles, never mind doing so in another country!
We don’t know if they had medical insurance coverage or not; so they are indeed lucky that they were not injured themselves.

In BC we pay very large car insurance premiums, but the coverage is all encompassing.
I think I paid about $1,300 CAN last time for a year, and I have a 16 year old car.

Isn’t the whole point of having any paid insurance at all to have that company cover you in case of accident or damage…not someone else’s company?

Please come up and visit us in Canada….just check all your insurance policies first!

(And btw: I want the name of their body shop that fixed that amount of damage for only $2,000!)

Please come up and visit us in Canada…

Cannot imagine the circumstance that would have me drive to BC again. Did enjoy visiting Whistler, (when the snow was gone).

I agree Canadians can do things their way; just wanted to make folks aware of the BC system and try to prevent others from having the nasty surprise the folks in the news report experienced.

It appears that there are 12 States that have no-fault car insurance, but the biggest difference is that the driver of the at-fault vehicle is still responsible to pay for property damages. But in BC you are covered for up to $200,000 for repairs to your own vehicle. You need optional collision coverage if your car is a victim of a hit and run. The ICBC website also clearly says visiting drivers need to have their own collision coverage because even if they are not at fault, they are not covered. I wonder how many people renting a car, refuse the insurance because they think it's just another case of the rental company trying to gouge them.

Rethinking this, I understand the no-fault concept to keep premiums down, but the collision coverage part does take me by surprise. I don't recall that part in any of the discussions when the topic rears its head in Alberta. That's a red flag that people need to be aware of. I still stand by my comment that the reporter treated the story poorly in trying to get his message out.

@ Joe32F

That is a pretty strong reaction. I drive in BC frequently on my way to Point Roberts where my sister has a cabin. I am glad to have a better understanding of the insurance system but it certainly won’t deter me from visiting this beautiful province.

Well, Joe; I’m sorry you feel that way about vacationing in Canada…..

Joe, there are a dozen states in the US that have no-fault insurance, including my own, Minnesota, which is why my car insurance premiums went up when I moved here. I'm okay with that. No-fault insurance was designed to ease the burdens on the courts (and as a retired attorney, I wholeheartedly agree with this) and get quick recompense for accident victims (without it, you could be waiting for several years before you get a settlement payment). So if you feel this way, you should probably avoid those states, too.

FWIW, how many of us have had our car scraped or banged into by drivers who leave the scene without getting caught? Or been involved in a fender bender with someone who has no insurance. It happens and regardless of where it happens, our uninsured car insurance pays for it. If you are worried about that, then maybe you shouldn't own a car or drive one.

I'm not going to avoid a destination because of the slim possibility that something like this would happen.

I feel there are pieces missing in this news report, such as what insurance this family had and whether they notified their insurance company that they were driving their car in another country It sounds like their own insurance company paid, so what is the actual issue? And what if they had been in an accident with no other car, wouldn't they expect to be covered by their insurance?

I just did a 5 minute google search as we drive to BC quite often. According to this ( in the US) you would be covered if you drive to another state in the US, even if they have no fault rules, but you need to notify them if you are leaving the country. For example, you would not be covered if you were to drive in Mexico.

Full disclosure, I have never thought to notify my insurance that my car is leaving the country! But I obviously should. This feels like a really sensational news story. Oh and I'm a bit shocked that the insurance " specialist" that they interviewed had never heard of no-fault insurance