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| This Act is current to October 8, 2024 | |||
| See the Tables of Legislative Changes for this Act’s legislative history, including any changes not in force. |
1 In this Act:
"adjuster" and "agent" have the meaning, except in section 12, given them in the Financial Institutions Act;
"board" means the board of directors of the corporation;
"chief executive officer" means the chief executive officer of the corporation;
"commission" means the British Columbia Utilities Commission continued under section 2 of the Utilities Commission Act;
"contract" means, except in sections 10 and 11, a contract of insurance and includes a policy, certificate, interim receipt, renewal receipt or writing evidencing the contract, whether sealed or not, and also includes a binding oral agreement;
"corporation" means the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia;
"insurance" means the undertaking by one person to indemnify another person against loss or liability for loss for a certain risk or peril to which the object of the insurance may be exposed, or to pay a sum of money or other thing of value on the happening of a certain event;
"MCT guideline" means the Guideline for Minimum Capital Test (MCT) for Federally Regulated Property and Casualty Insurance Companies issued by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada as that guideline is amended or replaced from time to time;
"municipality" includes a regional district;
"optional vehicle insurance" means vehicle insurance other than universal compulsory vehicle insurance under the Insurance (Vehicle) Act;
"policy" means the document evidencing a contract and includes a certificate of membership relating in any way to insurance;
"superintendent" means the Superintendent of Financial Institutions under the Financial Institutions Act;
"universal compulsory vehicle insurance" has the same meaning as in the Insurance (Vehicle) Act.
Part 1 — Operation of Corporation
2 (1) The corporation known as the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia is continued.
(2) The corporation consists of at least 3 members appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
(4) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may appoint a person to be a member to serve the unexpired term of a member who dies or resigns.
3 (1) The members appointed under section 2, during the term of their respective appointments, are the directors of the corporation.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council must designate a director as chair of the board.
(3) A director is entitled to be reimbursed by the corporation for reasonable travelling and other out of pocket expenses necessarily incurred by the director in discharging the director's duties.
(4) In addition, a director, other than the chief executive officer, may, subject to subsection (6), be paid and may accept as remuneration for the director's services the daily or periodic amounts set by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
(5) A majority of the members constitutes a quorum at a meeting of the directors or of the corporation.
(6) Despite the Constitution Act, a director who is a member of the Legislative Assembly
(a) may accept payments under subsections (3) and (4), and
(b) does not become ineligible as a member of the Legislative Assembly and is not disqualified to sit and vote in the Assembly because the member accepts payments under subsections (3) and (4).
(7) Despite the Public Service Act, a public officer may accept payments under subsections (3) and (4).
4 (1) The directors must appoint a chief executive officer of the corporation and determine the remuneration of the chief executive officer.
(2) The directors must define the duties of the chief executive officer.
(3) The directors or, if authorized by the directors, the chief executive officer may do the following:
(a) appoint the officers and employees they consider necessary to carry on the corporation's business;
(b) determine their duties and remuneration;
(c) provide a system of organization to fix responsibility and promote efficiency.
(4) The Public Service Act does not apply to the officers and employees of the corporation.
(6) The corporation may, alone or in cooperation with other corporations, ministries, commissions or other agents of the government, establish, support or participate in one or more of a pension or a group insurance plan for the benefit of its officers and employees and their dependants.
(7) Despite this or any other Act the establishment or support of, or participation in, a pension plan referred to in subsection (6) must not be the subject of a collective agreement between the corporation and its employees.
(8) The corporation may require a bond under the Bonding Act from the officers and employees it may designate.
"agreement" means the joint management agreement referred to in subsection (2);
"pension fund" means the trust fund established under the pension plan;
"pension plan" means the Retirement Plan for Employees of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia.
(2) Despite section 4 (7), the corporation may enter into a joint management agreement with the trade unions that represent its employees for the joint trusteeship of all or part of the pension plan and pension fund, or for any other matter relating to the pension plan or pension fund on which agreement is reached.
(3) The corporation and the trade unions must establish appropriate mechanisms whereby the views and interests of the corporation's non-unionized employees and retirees are fairly represented in the negotiation of the agreement.
(4) The agreement must not require any change to the pension plan or pension fund that would render the pension plan ineligible for registration under the Pension Benefits Standards Act or the Income Tax Act (Canada).
(5) When the agreement is entered into, the corporation must adopt those plan rules and other instruments that are necessary to amend and continue the pension plan and pension fund in accordance with the agreement and, thereafter, the pension plan and pension fund
(a) must be administered as provided by the agreement,
(b) may be amended as provided by the agreement, and
(c) are not subject to section 4 of this Act.
(6) Despite subsection (2), the non-unionized employees and the retirees of the corporation not represented by the trade unions may benefit from and be made subject to the agreement, and the corporation and the trade union representatives have the power to enter into the agreement on behalf of those persons and, if entered into, the agreement is binding on those persons.
5 (1) Despite section 4 (4), the Public Service Pension Plan, continued under the Public Sector Pension Plans Act, applies to persons who, immediately before any transfer date that the Lieutenant Governor in Council may set by order, are employees of the government, within the motor vehicle branch, and who
(a) are designated by order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council as persons carrying out functions under this Act that on and after the transfer date are to be carried out by the corporation,
(b) elect to become employees of the corporation, and
(c) on the relevant transfer date set under this section, begin employment as employees of the corporation.
(2) The Public Service Pension Plan applies to the corporation in its capacity as the employer of the persons to whom that plan applies under this section.
(3) The corporation must pay to the trustee of the pension fund under the Public Service Pension Plan the employer's contributions in amounts equivalent to the amounts required under that plan.
(4) Until, but not after, the end of the day on a date to be set by order of the minister responsible for the administration of the Transportation Act, the Public Service Benefit Plan Act applies to the employees of the corporation to whom the Public Service Pension Plan applies under this section.
(5) The discretion under this section to set a transfer date or to make a designation referred to in subsection (1) (a) may be exercised from time to time as the occasion requires.
7 It is the function of the corporation and it has the power and capacity to do the following:
(a) subject to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, engage in and carry on, inside and outside of British Columbia, the business of insurance and reinsurance in all its classes;
(b) subject to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, operate and administer plans of insurance, including universal compulsory vehicle insurance, authorized under any other enactment;
(c) engage in and carry on the business of repairing insured property and of salvaging and disposing by public or private sale property insured and acquired under a contract by which the corporation may be liable as an insurer, or make agreements with other persons for those purposes;
(d) subject to the Health Professions Act and the Hospital Act, engage in and carry on the business of providing medical and hospital services to a person insured under a contract by which the corporation may be liable as an insurer, or make agreements with other persons for those purposes;
(e) for its own use and benefit, acquire or expropriate, and hold or take options on land required for its business, conveyed, mortgaged or hypothecated to it by way of security, acquired as an investment, or conveyed to it in full or partial satisfaction for debts and judgments, and may dispose of the whole or part of the land;
(f) acquire some or all of the shares or business and property of an insurer, agent, adjuster or motor vehicle repairer, or make an agreement to carry on jointly a class of insurance with another insurer, inside or outside of British Columbia, and the Insurance Act and the Financial Institutions Act do not apply to the agreement;
(g) carry out any powers, duties and functions in relation to the Motor Vehicle Act, the Commercial Transport Act or the Off-Road Vehicle Act, or to any program of the government or of an agency of the government, that may be authorized under the Motor Vehicle Act, the Commercial Transport Act, the Off-Road Vehicle Act or another enactment respecting motor vehicles or vehicles, or that may be assumed by the corporation by agreement with the government or an agency of the government;
(h) receive, hold, manage and collect, for and on behalf of the government,
(i) revenue from fines in connection with violation tickets under the Offence Act, for contravention of enactments referred to in the regulations under that Act, including revenue from fines imposed by the Provincial Court for contraventions for which violation tickets have been issued,
(ii) revenue from a monetary penalty imposed under section 215.44 of the Motor Vehicle Act and revenue from licence, permit and other fees under the Motor Vehicle Act, the Commercial Transport Act, the Off-Road Vehicle Act or another enactment respecting motor vehicles or vehicles,
(iii) revenue from fees collected under the Medicare Protection Act, and
(iv) revenue from taxes imposed under the Provincial Sales Tax Act;
8 (1) Despite section 7, the corporation may carry on business as insurer in those classes of insurance and reinsurance only as are designated by regulation.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations authorizing the corporation to engage in and carry on any class of insurance as defined under the Financial Institutions Act, or any insurance plan and the regulations may provide that some provisions of this Act or the regulations do not apply to a particular class of insurance or insurance plan carried on under this section.
(3) On being authorized by regulation, the corporation has the right to engage in and carry on, in British Columbia, the class of insurance or the insurance plan so authorized without further authority than this Act and the regulations, as fully as if authorized to carry on insurance business under the Financial Institutions Act.
8.1 (1) If a record is kept by the corporation under this Act or the Insurance (Vehicle) Act, the corporation may
(a) have the record photocopied,
(b) have the record or its contents stored in electronic format,
(c) have the record or its contents reproduced on a record that enables the information to be subsequently displayed or immediately accessible in visible form, or
(d) keep the record or its contents in any other prescribed manner.
(2) If information from a record to be kept by the corporation is converted into another format under subsection (1), the corporation may destroy the paper format of the record and the information, in the format into which it has been converted, is deemed to be the record so converted.
(3) If records are kept by the corporation otherwise than in paper format, the corporation must provide, in intelligible form, any copy of those records that, under this Act or the Insurance (Vehicle) Act, the corporation is required to provide.
(4) A copy of, or extract from, a record kept in a format other than an electronic format by the corporation under this Act or the Insurance (Vehicle) Act, certified to be a true copy or extract by an officer of the corporation, is
(a) evidence of the record or of the part of the record extracted and of the facts stated in the record or the part of the record, and
(b) conclusive proof that the corporation is the keeper of the record, in fulfillment of the corporation's responsibility under this section.
(5) A reproduction in paper format of a record kept in electronic format by the corporation is evidence of the record and of the facts stated in the record, and is conclusive proof that the corporation is the keeper of the record, in fulfillment of the corporation's responsibility under this section, if
(a) the reproduction is certified to be a true copy by an officer of the corporation, or
(b) the reproduction contains a statement to the effect that the reproduction is an authentic reproduction of information stored in a database in electronic format by the corporation.
(6) A record of information, based on the records kept by the corporation under this Act or the Insurance (Vehicle) Act, is evidence of the facts contained in the record if
(a) the information is contained in a certificate of an officer of the corporation, or
(b) the records contains a statement to the effect that the record is an authentic reproduction of information stored in a database in electronic format by the corporation.
(7) Proof is not required of the signature or official position of a person certifying the truth of a copy or extract, or giving a certificate under this section, and a facsimile signature purporting to be the signature of a person required to sign or certify a record under this Act or the Insurance (Vehicle) Act is evidence of the signature and of the authority for the use of the facsimile signature.
(8) A certificate or other record referred to in subsection (4), (5) or (6) must be received in all courts for the purposes of those subsections without proof that the certificate or other record was kept or provided with lawful authority.
(9) This section is in addition to and not in substitution for any provision of this or any other enactment respecting the retention, certification or use of records by the corporation including, without limitation, any provision that
(a) allows the corporation to retain records in any format,
(b) allows for certification of records by the corporation in any manner, or
(c) allows any record to stand as evidence of any fact or matter.
8.2 The corporation must keep and maintain separate and distinct accounts in which it must record
(a) all money paid to the corporation for premiums and all other money, including investment income, paid to the corporation for the purposes of the Insurance (Vehicle) Act, and
(b) all payments by the corporation of benefits, insurance money, damages, compensation, costs and capital expenditures and operating expenses for the purposes of the Insurance (Vehicle) Act.
8.3 If the corporation receives income, including investment income, or if the corporation makes an expenditure partly for the purpose of the Insurance (Vehicle) Act and partly for another business or purpose of the corporation, the directors must apportion and account for that income and expenditure accordingly.
8.4 Subject to the regulations, including, without limitation, any orders of the commission under section 46, the corporation must maintain for the purposes of the Insurance (Vehicle) Act reserves in amounts the corporation considers advisable in the interest of owners of vehicles and drivers of vehicles, and in the interest of good management of the business of vehicle insurance, so that the corporation has at all times sufficient funds to meet the payments under the Insurance (Vehicle) Act as they become payable.
9 (1) The corporation may do all acts and things necessary or required for the purpose of carrying out its functions and powers, and, for that purpose, has all of the powers and capacity of an individual of full capacity.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the corporation may do any of the following:
(a) conduct surveys and research programs and obtain statistics for its purposes and to establish and administer any insurance plan;
(b) enter into an agreement with, or retain agents or adjusters to solicit and receive applications for insurance, to collect premiums, adjust claims, and do other things on its behalf it considers necessary;
(c) prescribe forms for application, contracts, policies and other matters it considers necessary;
(d) prescribe the detail required to be set out on a form;
(e) evaluate damages and losses and pay claims under a contract by which the corporation may be liable as an insurer;
(f) reinsure the whole or part of a contract of another insurer, and reinsure its risks under the whole or part of a contract with another insurer, whether or not the other insurer is inside or outside of British Columbia, or is authorized under the Financial Institutions Act;
(g) do anything necessary to settle, adjust, investigate, defend and otherwise deal with, under this Act, the Insurance Act or the Financial Institutions Act so far as is applicable, claims made on contracts by which the corporation may be liable as insurer or on a plan established under sections 7 and 8 (1);
(h) make bylaws and pass resolutions, not contrary to law or this Act, it considers necessary or advisable for the conduct of its affairs including the time and place of its meetings, procedure at meetings and generally the conduct of its affairs in all ways;
(i) carry out either alone or with a board, commission, corporation, ministry or agency of government, or a person, agency or association, a research, education, training, competition or similar program relating to highway safety;
(j) promote or carry out programs of research into causes of accidents and the equitable distribution of losses resulting from highway traffic accidents;
(k) establish and maintain repair shops to investigate and apply techniques used in the repair of vehicles and to analyze the cost of repairs;
(l) negotiate with persons engaged in vehicle repairs to establish fair and reasonable prices for vehicle repairs for which payments may be made under the Insurance (Vehicle) Act.
9.1 (1) If a vehicle has been damaged as a result of an accident and has been delivered into the custody of the corporation with the consent of the owner or person in charge of the vehicle at the time of the accident or under the direction of a peace officer under the Motor Vehicle Act,
(a) the corporation has a lien on the vehicle for the amount of the costs and charges for removal, towing, care or storage of the vehicle unless the corporation is responsible for payment of the amount of those costs and charges, and
(b) that amount is a debt owing by the registered owner to the corporation.
(2) The corporation may give a written notice to the registered owner of the vehicle requiring the registered owner to
(a) pay the costs and charges referred to in subsection (1), and
(b) remove the vehicle from the place where it is stored within 7 days from the date of receipt of the notice.
(3) A notice under subsection (2) may be given by serving it personally on the registered owner or by mailing it to the registered owner's address as shown in the records of the corporation and, if mailed, the notice is deemed to have been received on the eighth day after the date of mailing.
(4) If the registered owner does not pay the costs and charges owing to the corporation and remove the vehicle within 14 days after receiving a notice given under subsection (2), the corporation may, without further notice, offer the vehicle for sale by public auction or tender.
(5) On the sale of a vehicle under this section, the corporation may deduct all costs and charges owing to it, including the costs of the sale, and must for 2 years after that hold any balance in trust for the owner of the vehicle and other persons having a registered interest in the vehicle and if the balance is unclaimed within the 2 years it becomes the property of the corporation.
(6) If a vehicle offered by the corporation for sale by public auction or by tender is not sold, the corporation is deemed to be the purchaser of it for the amount of the costs and charges owing and the corporation may dispose of it as the corporation considers appropriate.
(7) When the corporation sells a vehicle or is deemed to be the purchaser of it by this section, the indebtedness of the owner to the corporation for the costs and charges referred to in subsection (5) in respect of the vehicle is extinguished.
9.2 (1) The corporation may, in writing, appoint agents it considers necessary for the purposes of either or both of universal compulsory vehicle insurance and optional vehicle insurance.
(2) The corporation must not appoint a person as agent unless the person holds or has applied for a licence under the Financial Institutions Act as an insurance agent for the place specified in the appointment.
(3) Despite subsection (2), for the purpose of universal compulsory vehicle insurance, the corporation may appoint as an agent
(b) a person authorized in writing by the minister.
(4) The provisions of the Financial Institutions Act regarding insurance agents do not apply to the persons appointed under subsection (3) of this section.
(5) An agent's appointment in respect of universal compulsory vehicle insurance or optional vehicle insurance must not be terminated without just cause.
(6) Subject to any orders of the commission under this Act or the Utilities Commission Act as applied by this Act or a regulation under section 47 or 51, the corporation, after consultation with an agent, may establish annually the commission and other remuneration to be paid to the agent.
(7) An appointment of an agent made under the Insurance (Motor Vehicle) Act before September 27, 1977, that has not been suspended, cancelled or revoked, and a subsisting agreement made with respect to it, continues in force to the extent consistent with this section, until terminated by the corporation or the agent.
10 (1) A contract that, if made between natural persons would be by law required to be in writing and under seal, may be made on behalf of the corporation in writing under seal and may, in the same manner, be varied or discharged.
(2) A contract that, if made between natural persons would be by law required to be in writing signed by the parties to be charged, may be made on behalf of the corporation in writing signed by any person acting under its authority, express or implied, and may in the same manner be varied or discharged.
(3) A contract that, if made between natural persons would by law be valid although made orally and not reduced to writing, may be made in like manner on behalf of the corporation by any person acting under its authority, express or implied, and may in the same manner be varied or discharged.
(4) All contracts made according to this section are effectual in law, and bind the corporation and its successors and all other parties to them.
(5) A bill of exchange or promissory note is deemed to have been made, accepted or endorsed on behalf of the corporation if made, accepted or endorsed in the name of, on behalf of or on account of, the corporation by any person acting under its authority.
11 (1) A director or the chief executive officer sufficiently signs a document on behalf of the corporation if the signature of the director or chief executive officer is written on the document.
(2) If a document relating to the corporation's business bears a signature and if required, a countersignature, purporting to be that of a director, officer or authorized person, the document is deemed to be validly made and the signature, countersignature and seal, if any, deemed to be validly signed and sealed by persons authorized by the corporation.
(3) It is not necessary to prove the seal of the corporation, the handwriting or the authority of the person signing, sealing or countersigning the document, or, in the case of a document signed under subsection (1), authenticity of the facsimile of the signature of a director or the chief executive officer.
12 (1) The corporation, its officers or full time salaried employees may, for this Act, act as an agent or adjuster.
(2) The Financial Institutions Act does not apply to such an agent or adjuster.
13 (1) All property and money acquired or administered by the corporation is deemed to be the property of the government for all purposes, including exemption from taxation.
(2) The corporation is an agent of the government.
(3) Money, funds, investments and property acquired or administered by the corporation may not be taken, used or appropriated by the government for any purpose whatever, except under subsection (5) or to repay advances by or money borrowed from the government and the interest on it.
(4) Subsection (3) does not apply to the revenue referred to in section 7 (h) that is received by the corporation.
(5) The corporation must pay to the government any tax or impost that, but for subsection (3), would be assessed or levied against the corporation, its business or property under any other Act, except income tax under the Income Tax Act.
14 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by order, direct the corporation to pay grants of money to a municipality in which property of the corporation is located.
15 (1) Subject to any restriction placed by order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, the corporation may borrow or raise money for its temporary purposes by way of overdraft, line of credit, loan or otherwise, on the credit of the corporation for the amounts, terms and periods determined by the corporation.
(2) The government may, on terms that may be approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, guarantee payment of the principal and interest on the borrowing of the corporation.
16 To the extent permitted by any Act, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may authorize the Minister of Finance to advance money to the corporation for its temporary purposes out of the consolidated revenue fund, to be repaid on terms approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
17 (1) Despite the Financial Administration Act, the corporation may retain, out of the revenue referred to in section 7 (h) of this Act that is received by the corporation, the corporation's permitted costs of its services in
(a) receiving, holding, managing, collecting and accounting for the revenue, and
(b) carrying out its powers, duties and functions referred to in section 7 (g) of this Act.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the Treasury Board must prescribe the corporation's permitted costs of its services.
18 (1) Subject to the prior approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council and to subsection (2), the corporation, as agent of the government, may, for its purposes, raise money in lawful money of Canada by way of loan on the credit of the corporation.
(2) Through the Minister of Finance as its agent for the purpose of this section or section 15 or 16, the corporation may do any of the following:
(a) issue notes, bonds, debentures or other securities of the corporation;
(b) dispose of the securities so issued at the prices considered advisable;
19 (1) The notes, bonds, debentures and other securities issued under section 18 must be in the form, bear the rate of interest and be payable or redeemable in advance of maturity, for principal, interest and premium, in the currencies of the countries, in the amount or price, in the manner, and at the times, as the Lieutenant Governor in Council may determine.
(2) The notes, bonds, debentures and other securities authorized by section 18 must bear the seal of the corporation, which may be impressed or engraved, or otherwise mechanically reproduced on them and, together with any coupons attached, must bear the manual, engraved or otherwise mechanically reproduced signatures of the chair and of the secretary of the corporation.
(3) A mechanically reproduced seal or signature is, for all purposes, valid and binding on the corporation if the note, bond, debenture or other security or the coupon bearing it is countersigned by an officer appointed by the corporation for that purpose,
(a) even though the person whose signature is reproduced may not have held office at the date of the security or of its delivery, and
(b) even though the person who holds the office at the time when the signature is affixed is not the person who holds that office at the date of the security or of its delivery.
(4) A recital or declaration in a resolution or minutes of the corporation authorizing the issue or sale of notes, bonds, debentures or other securities to the effect that the amount of securities so authorized is necessary to realize the net sum authorized or required to be raised is conclusive evidence of that fact.
20 (1) The government may, on terms as may be approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, guarantee the payment of principal, interest and premium, if any, of any notes, bonds, debentures and other securities issued by the corporation.
(2) The guarantee must be in a form and manner the Lieutenant Governor in Council may approve.
(3) The guarantee must be signed by the Minister of Finance or an officer designated by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
(4) On the guarantee being signed, the government is liable for the payment of the principal, interest and premium, if any, of the notes, bonds, debentures and securities guaranteed, to the extent of the guarantee.
(5) In the hands of a holder of any such security of the corporation, a guarantee so signed is conclusive evidence that this section has been complied with.
(6) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may discharge any liability resulting from the guarantee out of
(a) the consolidated revenue fund, or
(b) the proceeds of securities of the government issued and sold for the purpose.
(7) The signature of the Minister of Finance or a designated officer may be engraved or otherwise mechanically reproduced.
(8) The mechanically reproduced signature is for all purposes the signature of that person and is binding on the government,
(a) even though the person whose signature is reproduced may not have held office at the date of the security or of its delivery, and
(b) even though the person who holds the office at the time when the signature is affixed is not the person who holds that office at the date of the security or of its delivery.
21 (1) Money required by any Act or regulations to be paid to the corporation, premiums and other consideration payable for insurance provided by the corporation, and any other money that may be due and payable to the corporation must be paid to the corporation, and may be retained by it to be used and dealt with only to carry out the powers of the corporation under this or any other Act.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by order, direct the Minister of Finance to pay to the corporation for the purposes of the Insurance (Vehicle) Act, out of the consolidated revenue fund, the amounts considered advisable but not to exceed the equivalent of
(a) a tax of 2.2¢/litre on each litre of fuel taxable under the Motor Fuel Tax Act, and
(b) the portion considered advisable, of the fees payable under the Motor Vehicle Act, Commercial Transport Act and Passenger Transportation Act.
22 The corporation's uninvested money and securities held by it must be kept for safekeeping in the banks or institutions determined by the directors.
22.1 (1) For fiscal years of the corporation that begin after 2016, the fiscal year of the corporation is the period from April 1 in one year to March 31 in the next year.
(2) The fiscal year of the corporation that began on January 1, 2016 ends on March 31, 2017.
23 (1) The corporation must prepare and provide to the minister by the date required by the minister, for the preceding fiscal year,
(a) a report of the corporation on its operations,
(b) a financial statement showing the corporation's operations, as well as its assets and liabilities at the end of the year in the form that may be required by the Minister of Finance, and
(c) if the corporation is engaged in the business of optional vehicle insurance,
(i) a report, prepared by an actuary who is not an employee of the corporation, as to whether the corporation's optional vehicle insurance policy liabilities and universal compulsory vehicle insurance policy liabilities have been valued in accordance with accepted actuarial practices, and
(ii) a report, prepared by an accountant who is not an employee of the corporation, as to whether
(A) the corporation's optional vehicle insurance costs have been attributed to optional vehicle insurance in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and in compliance with section 49 (1) and any orders made under section 49 (2), and
(B) the corporation's universal compulsory vehicle insurance costs and its non-insurance costs related to driver and vehicle licensing and road safety have been attributed to universal compulsory vehicle insurance in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and in compliance with section 49 (1) and any orders made under section 49 (2).
(2) Unless the Auditor General is appointed in accordance with the Auditor General Act as the auditor of the corporation, the Lieutenant Governor in Council must appoint an auditor
(a) to audit the accounts of the corporation for each fiscal year of the corporation, and
(b) to report to the minister on the annual financial statement.
(3) On or before August 31 after the end of the preceding fiscal year of the corporation, the minister must either, as applicable,
(a) lay the reports and financial statement received by the minister under subsection (1) before the Legislative Assembly, if it is in session, or
(b) file the reports and financial statement with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, if the Legislative Assembly is not in session.
(4) The financial statement referred to in subsection (1) must be prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
(5) If the corporation is engaged in the business of optional vehicle insurance, the financial statement referred to in subsection (1) must include the following:
(a) a financial statement for the optional vehicle insurance operations of the corporation;
(b) a financial statement for the remainder of the operations of the corporation.
24 (1) The corporation must file with the superintendent each year an annual report on its condition and affairs for its immediately preceding fiscal year.
(2) The report must be prepared in a manner determined by the superintendent and filed within 30 days after the date on which the financial statement for the corresponding fiscal year is laid before the Legislative Assembly or filed with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly under section 23.
25 (1) The Comptroller General must, as often as the Comptroller General considers advisable, inspect the records of the corporation to satisfy themselves that revenues collected by the corporation on behalf of the government have been accurately recorded and remitted promptly to the Minister of Finance.
(2) The Minister of Finance may at any time direct the Comptroller General to examine and report to the Treasury Board on the financial or accounting operations of the corporation.
27 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, at any time, by order, require additional reports the Lieutenant Governor in Council may consider necessary from the corporation.
28 If the financial statement or report referred to in section 23 (1) (a) or (b), as the case may be, or an additional report under section 27, shows that the liabilities exceed the assets, or indicates that the liabilities, exclusive of the liability for the repayment of money, if any, paid to the corporation under this section or section 16 or 38, may, at any time in the coming fiscal year, exceed the assets, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by order, direct that the amount or estimated amount of the excess be paid to the corporation out of the consolidated revenue fund.
29 (1) The corporation must not invest or lend its funds other than in accordance with guidelines prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
(2) The corporation may take any additional securities of any kind to secure repayment to the corporation of any investment or loan or to further ensure the sufficiency of the securities in which the corporation is, by this section, authorized to invest or loan its funds.
30 (1) Unless a longer period is provided in the contract or insurance plan, no action or other proceeding lies against the corporation in respect of any claim for loss or damage under a policy or plan of insurance unless the action or other proceeding is commenced within one year after the furnishing of reasonably sufficient proof of loss or claim under the policy or plan.
(2) No action or other proceeding lies against any person other than the corporation for the purpose of enforcing a claim or right in relation to the operations engaged in or carried on under this Act or any insurance plan established under any Act.
(3) No action or other proceeding whatever may be commenced against a person in respect of any act or omission done in good faith in connection with the administration or carrying out of this Act, regulations or any insurance plan established under any Act.
31 (1) If the corporation has power, under section 8, to engage in and carry on a class of insurance or an insurance plan and the corporation establishes the class or plan, every designated association, board, commission, municipality or other corporation to which a grant or advance may be made, the borrowings of which may be guaranteed by the government, or a majority of members of which are appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, must, if that class of insurance is required, apply to the corporation for the insurance of that class it may require, and must not effect the insurance with another insurer unless an application for the insurance is refused by the corporation.
(2) This section applies only to the associations, boards, commissions, municipalities or other corporations designated by the Lieutenant Governor in Council by order.
32 Subject to section 31, if, under an Act other than the Financial Institutions Act a class of insurance may be effected with an insurer authorized to do business in British Columbia, and the corporation is carrying on business in that class of insurance, the insurance so authorized may, despite the other Act, be effected with the corporation.
33 (1) Despite the terms and conditions of a mortgage or agreement, a mortgagor or purchaser may effect insurance with the corporation, whether or not the corporation is a company approved by the mortgagee or vendor.
(2) Production of a policy issued by the corporation constitutes compliance with the terms of the mortgage or agreement respecting production of a policy of insurance.
34 For the purpose of evaluating the risks or class of risks that may be undertaken by the corporation, each ministry of the government, agent of the government and municipality must provide to the corporation, on request in writing, the reports and information the corporation may require.
35 The corporation, either alone or in cooperation with one or more ministries of government, persons, boards, commissions or other corporations, may introduce, supervise, finance and promote educational programs or research relating to health, rehabilitation, safety and the reduction of risk for any branch or class of insurance in which the corporation is engaged.
37 (1) With the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, the corporation may enter into agreements with Canada or a province on any of the following:
(b) deposit, security and undertaking required to carry on business in other provinces;
(c) any other matter for carrying on business, or settlement of claims in other provinces.
38 Out of the fund of $5 million set aside by the Minister of Finance on March 31, 1973, the Minister of Finance must make advances to the corporation under section 16 as authorized by order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
39 (1) Except as provided in this Act and the regulations, the Financial Institutions Act does not apply to the corporation.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations specifying that the corporation must comply with any or all of the provisions of
(a) the Financial Institutions Act,
(b) the regulations under the Financial Institutions Act, or
(c) similar legislation of Canada.
(3) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, in regulations made under subsection (2),
(a) prescribe how the specified provisions apply and how the corporation must comply with them, and
(b) apply different provisions, or apply provisions differently, to different parts of the corporation's operations and different businesses operated by the corporation.
(4) In the event of a conflict between a provision specified in a regulation made under subsection (2), or anything ordered or done under a regulation made under subsection (2), and a provision of Part 2 of this Act, or anything ordered or done under a provision of Part 2, the provision of Part 2 or the order or action under the provision of Part 2 prevails.
40 (1) Except as provided in this Act, the Business Corporations Act does not apply to the corporation.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council, may, by order, direct that the Business Corporations Act, or a provision in it, applies to the corporation.
42 (1) The corporation has, despite the repeals effected by the Traffic Victims Indemnity Fund Repeal Act, S.B.C. 1982, c. 30, the power and capacity to litigate or otherwise dispose of any claim against and the duty to discharge any liability of
(a) the Traffic Victims Indemnity Fund, and
that would otherwise be extinguished by those repeals.
(2) Despite the repeals effected by the Traffic Victims Indemnity Fund Repeal Act, S.B.C. 1982, c. 30, all liabilities of the Group Two members of the Traffic Victims Indemnity Fund that would otherwise be extinguished by the repeals are preserved and, subject to subsection (4), continue to exist to the same extent as if the repeals had not been effected.
(3) Nothing in subsection (1) affects or prejudices any right that any person has or may have against the Group Two members of the Traffic Victims Indemnity Fund.
(4) Nothing in this section prevents the corporation from relying on the Limitation Act.
(5) This section is retroactive to the extent necessary to give full effect to its provisions.
Part 2 — Regulation of the Corporation
(2) In this Part, an activity has or is likely to have the effect of appreciably impeding or reducing competition if
(a) the activity has or is likely to have a detrimental effect on existing or potential competition, and
(b) the detrimental effect is or is likely to be large enough to be material, even though that detrimental effect may not be large enough to constitute preventing or lessening competition substantially within the meaning of sections 79 (1) and 92 (1) of the Competition Act (Canada).
Division 2 — Role of the British Columbia Utilities Commission
44 (1) Subject to subsections (3), (6) and (7), the Utilities Commission Act, other than sections 5 (4) to (9), 22, 23 (1) (a) to (d) and (2), 25 to 38, 40, 41, 43 (1) (b) (ii), 44.1, 44.2, 45 to 57, 59 (2) and (3), 60 (1) (b) (ii) and (2) to (4), Part 3.1, 97, 98, 106 (1) (k), 107 to 109 and 114, Parts 4 and 5 and sections 125.1 and 125.2 of that Act, applies to and in respect of the corporation as if it were a public utility, and a reference in this Part to the Utilities Commission Act or to a provision of that Act is deemed to be a reference to that Act or provision as it applies for the purposes of this Act.
(2) Despite subsection (1), the corporation is not a public utility.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (1),
(a) a reference to "rate" in the Utilities Commission Act and in this Part is deemed to be a reference to "rate", as defined in section 1 of the Utilities Commission Act, as if paragraph (a) of that definition read as follows:
"(a) compensation of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, other than any fee or other remuneration to which that corporation is entitled for any activity it undertakes under section 7 (g), (h) or (i) of the Insurance Corporation Act,",
(b) a reference to "service" in the Utilities Commission Act is deemed to be a reference to universal compulsory vehicle insurance, and includes
(i) the corporation's practices and procedures related to universal compulsory vehicle insurance, and
(ii) the corporation's performance in providing universal compulsory vehicle insurance to its customer base as a whole or to classes of its customers,
but does not include the corporation's provision of universal compulsory vehicle insurance to any one customer,
(c) section 23 (1) (g) (i) of the Utilities Commission Act is deemed to read as follows:
"(i) the convenience or service of the public, or", and
(d) section 43 (3) (a) of the Utilities Commission Act is deemed to read as follows:
"(a) all profiles, contracts, reports of accountants, actuaries and consultants, accounts and records in its possession or control relating in any way to its property or service or affecting its business, or verified copies of them, and".
(4) In addition to any rights or powers that the commission may exercise under subsection (1) of this section in relation to the corporation, the commission is to supervise the corporation in accordance with sections 45 and 46 and Division 3 and, for that purpose, has all of the rights and powers that would be available to the commission were that supervisory duty imposed on it under the Utilities Commission Act.
(5) Despite section 11 (1) and (2) of the Utilities Commission Act, the fact that a commissioner or an employee of the commission obtains or is otherwise covered by insurance coverage provided by the corporation is not a contravention of the Utilities Commission Act and does not disqualify the commissioner or employee from acting in any matter affecting the corporation.
(6) Section 62 of the Utilities Commission Act does not apply to rates for optional vehicle insurance.
(7) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may prescribe provisions of the Utilities Commission Act that do not apply to the corporation or to one or more of the businesses in which the corporation is engaged.
45 (1) If the corporation is authorized by the Lieutenant Governor in Council to provide universal compulsory vehicle insurance, the corporation must make available universal compulsory vehicle insurance in a manner, and in accordance with practices and procedures, that the commission considers are in all respects adequate, efficient, just and reasonable.
(2) If the commission, after a hearing held on its own motion or on complaint, finds that the manner in which universal compulsory vehicle insurance is provided by the corporation does not comply with subsection (1) or that the practices and procedures in accordance with which that insurance is provided do not comply with subsection (1), the commission must
(a) determine the manner or the practices and procedures, as the case may be, that comply with subsection (1), and
(b) order the corporation to comply with that manner or with those practices and procedures.
(3) After a hearing held on the commission's own motion or on complaint, the commission may determine and set adequate, efficient, just and reasonable standards, practices or procedures to be used by the corporation in providing universal compulsory vehicle insurance and may order the corporation to comply with those standards, practices or procedures.
(4) The commission may, by order, require the corporation to report, at the times and in the form ordered by the commission, on the corporation's performance in providing universal compulsory vehicle insurance, including, without limitation, on the corporation's performance in complying with any order made under subsection (2) or (3).
(5) The commission may exercise its powers and duties under this section in relation to the provision by the corporation of universal compulsory vehicle insurance to the corporation's customer base as a whole or to classes of its customers, but not in relation to the provision by the corporation of universal compulsory vehicle insurance to any one customer.
(6) Despite this section and section 44, and despite section 110 of the Utilities Commission Act, the commission does not have the power to change a term or condition of any plan of universal compulsory vehicle insurance established under the Insurance (Vehicle) Act.
46 (1) The commission may, by order, require the corporation to maintain, for the purposes set out in section 8.4, reserves that are equal to or greater than the reserves the corporation is required to maintain under that section.
(2) The commission must take the corporation's obligation to maintain reserves into account in fixing rates of the corporation.
47 (1) In addition to any other power the Lieutenant Governor in Council may have to issue directions to the commission, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by regulation, issue directions to the commission respecting the factors, criteria and guidelines that the commission must or must not use in regulating and fixing rates for the corporation, including, without limitation, one or more of the following directions:
(a) establishing financial outcome targets for the corporation generally and for its optional insurance business in particular, including targets for the corporation's capital base, within the meaning of the Financial Institutions Act, and the corporation's profits, and directing the commission to accommodate those targets when regulating and fixing those rates;
(b) identifying circumstances in which the commission is and is not to regulate and fix rates applicable to optional vehicle insurance;
(c) establishing criteria on which rates may, and must not, be based;
(d) identifying activities the corporation may or must undertake on behalf of the government or under an enactment, and directing how those activities, and the costs related to them, are to be treated for the purposes of regulating and fixing rates;
(e) directing the commission to consider specified factors or criteria when regulating and fixing rates;
(f) authorizing the commission to determine any factor or criterion the commission considers to be relevant in relation to the regulation and fixing of rates.
(2) In addition to any other power the Lieutenant Governor in Council may have to issue directions to the commission, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by regulation, issue one or more of the following directions to the commission:
(a) setting out the basis on which and the manner in which the commission is to perform its obligations under this Part;
(b) directing the commission to require the corporation to prepare a plan, in the manner and form, with the content and at the time or times required by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, of the steps the corporation will take to meet the financial outcome targets referred to in subsection (1) (a);
(c) directing or authorizing the commission to approve and monitor compliance with the plan referred to in paragraph (b) of this subsection;
(d) identifying activities the corporation must undertake on behalf of the government and
(i) establishing requirements as to the manner in which and the practices and procedures in accordance with which those activities are to be undertaken, and
(ii) providing direction to the commission as to how it should regulate those activities to ensure that they are undertaken in accordance with the requirements established under subparagraph (i).
(3) The commission must comply with any direction issued under subsection (1) or (2) despite
(a) any other provisions of the Insurance Corporation Act, the Insurance (Vehicle) Act or the Utilities Commission Act, or
(b) any previous decision of the commission.
(4) The powers of the Lieutenant Governor in Council under this section include the power, by regulation, to issue directions that apply, rely on or incorporate, with or without modification, any or all of the provisions of any code, guideline or regulation as they may be amended or replaced from time to time before or after the making of the Lieutenant Governor in Council's regulation, including, without limitation, any or all of the provisions of the MCT guideline.
48 Nothing in this Part or in the Utilities Commission Act gives to the commission the right or power to alter or affect any rights, remedies or entitlements that may exist at law with respect to compensation for injury or death, or loss or damage to property, that arises out of the use or operation of a vehicle.
Division 3 — Competition Regulation
49 (1) The commission must ensure that the universal compulsory vehicle insurance business and the revenue of the corporation, other than revenue from the corporation's optional vehicle insurance business, are not used to subsidize the corporation's optional vehicle insurance business.
(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), the commission may issue any orders it considers necessary to ensure that the corporation's optional vehicle insurance business and activities are segregated from the corporation's other businesses and activities for accounting purposes, and that, in addition, any other businesses and activities of the corporation that the commission considers appropriate are segregated from the remaining businesses and activities of the corporation for accounting purposes, including, without limitation, orders
(a) requiring reports from auditors,
(b) requiring reports from actuaries, and
(c) specifying cost allocation practices and other accounting practices that the corporation is to follow.
(3) Before taking any action under this section, the commission must consider any current reports ordered under subsection (2) (a) or (b).
54 In this Part:
"complainant" means a person who makes a fairness complaint under this Part;
"corporation process" means a step, or a series of steps, taken by the corporation to carry out a function or capacity, or to exercise a power, described in section 7 (b), (c), (d), (g) or (h);
"fairness complaint" means a complaint under this Part by a complainant to the fairness officer in respect of the fairness of a corporation process;
"fairness officer" means the fairness officer appointed under section 55;
"personal information" has the same meaning as in the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
55 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may appoint a fairness officer.
(2) The fairness officer is to be appointed for a term of 3 years and may be reappointed for additional 3-year terms.
(3) Subject to subsection (2), the board may, subject to the approval of the minister, set the terms and conditions of the fairness officer's appointment, including remuneration.
(4) The fairness officer may retain staff necessary to assist the fairness officer in the carrying out of the fairness officer's powers and duties.
(5) All necessary expenses required for the fairness officer and the fairness officer's staff must be paid by the corporation in accordance with a budgeting process prescribed by regulation.
56 (1) The fairness officer, on a fairness complaint or on the fairness officer's own initiative, may investigate
(a) a decision or recommendation made,
(b) an act done or omitted, or
by the corporation during or with respect to a corporation process that aggrieves or may aggrieve a person.
(2) In addition to carrying out the power described in subsection (1), the fairness officer
(a) may make recommendations to the corporation to resolve fairness complaints;
(b) may make recommendations about systemic problems with the fairness of corporation processes;
(c) may provide advice and assistance to members of the public with respect to corporation processes;
57 (1) The fairness officer may not comment on or make recommendations respecting
(a) an amount payable by the corporation, or
(b) the extent, as determined by the corporation, that a person is responsible for an accident.
(2) Section 56 does not authorize the fairness officer to investigate a fairness complaint in respect of any of the following:
(a) a matter that is the subject of a proceeding or a decision of a court or tribunal, as defined in section 1 of the Judicial Review Procedure Act;
(b) a matter that is or was the subject of arbitration or an arbitral award;
58 The fairness officer may make rules respecting the practices and procedures to be followed
(a) by the complainant in the filing or withdrawing of a fairness complaint, or
(b) by the complainant, the fairness officer and the corporation in the conduct of an investigation under section 56 (1).
59 (1) The fairness officer must submit, on a prescribed basis, a report to the minister and the corporation that includes the following information:
(a) the number of fairness complaints received;
(b) the number of fairness complaints heard by the fairness officer;
(c) any other prescribed information.
(2) As soon as practicable on the receipt of the report submitted under subsection (1), the minister must either, as applicable,
(a) lay the report before the Legislative Assembly, if it is in session, or
(b) file the report with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, if the Legislative Assembly is not sitting.
60 The fairness officer must publish, on a publicly accessible website maintained by or on behalf of the fairness officer,
(a) the rules made under section 58, and
(b) as soon as practicable after the minister has complied with section 59 (2), the report referred to in section 59 (1).
61 (1) The corporation must, no later than August 31 in each year, submit to the minister an annual report.
(2) An annual report submitted under subsection (1) must include
(a) a summary of the corporation's responses in the previous fiscal year to the fairness officer's recommendations, if any, and
(b) any other prescribed matter.
(3) As soon as practicable on the receipt of the report submitted under subsection (1), the minister must either, as applicable,
(a) lay the report before the Legislative Assembly, if it is in session, or
(b) file the report with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, if the Legislative Assembly is not sitting.
(4) The corporation must publish the annual report, as soon as practicable after the minister has complied with subsection (3), on a publicly accessible website maintained by or on behalf of the corporation.
62 (1) For the purpose of carrying out a power or duty under this Part, the fairness officer may collect personal information from the corporation and a complainant, including personal information about an individual other than the complainant.
(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), the corporation may disclose personal information to the fairness officer.
(3) Nothing in this section is intended to limit the authority of the fairness officer to collect, use or disclose personal information under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
63 The fairness officer, or a person acting on behalf of or under the direction of the fairness officer, must not be required to testify or produce evidence, in any proceeding, about any of the following in relation to a fairness complaint:
Part 4 — Power to Make Regulations
64 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations referred to in section 41 of the Interpretation Act.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) respecting any matter for which regulations are contemplated by this Act,
(b) respecting the manner in which records or their contents may be kept by the corporation, and
(c) prescribing classes of fairness complaints, or circumstances in relation to fairness complaints, in respect of which the fairness officer has discretion to determine whether or not to conduct an investigation.
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