Conservative Party leader Lorne Doerkson says a Conservative government would introduce legislation in its first year to restore court access for people with serious injuries after ICBC’s no-fault system took effect in 2021.
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Conservative Party leader Lorne Doerkson says a Conservative government would introduce new legislation during its first year in office to effectively restore the ability for people with serious injuries to seek compensation through the courts after the province’s Enhanced Care no-fault auto insurance model took effect in 2021.
The commitment is outlined in a letter dated Sept. 29, 2026, that Doerkson daylighted to representatives of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, the Law Society of British Columbia, the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia, and the Canadian Bar Association’s B.C. branch. Doerkson said he is seeking a shift back to greater court access for serious injury claims and wrote that “people seriously hurt by reckless drivers deserve their day in an independent court.”
The letter sets out a possible pivot to a hybrid insurance approach, describing the idea as “everything’s on the table,” including opening auto insurance to private competition and “bringing back sensible limits on minor-injury claims.” Doerkson also wrote that one point was “not up for debate”: court access for people seriously hurt by reckless drivers.
The issue is closely tied to Enhanced Care, which was launched more than five years ago by the BC NDP-led provincial government and shifted the focus away from injury lawsuits toward providing care and recovery benefits. ICBC reported that customers saved an average of about $490, or 28 per cent, on full-coverage personal auto insurance when first renewing under the new model.
Doerkson’s letter does not include a premium estimate or a detailed financial breakdown for the proposed changes. It also frames private competition as an option under consideration rather than a final commitment, and says the legislation would be developed with input from ICBC, lawyers, insurers, healthcare providers, civil liberties organizations, groups advocating for injured people, and taxpayer representatives.
Doerkson also included a separate commitment in the letter to repeal the BC NDP’s 2024 Legal Professions Act changes, arguing the changes interfere with the legal profession’s ability to govern itself.
The proposal drew immediate criticism from MoveUP and the BC NDP, who said it would drive up rates. MoveUP, which represents 5,000 workers employed by ICBC, and the BC NDP asserted that the overhaul would double auto insurance rates, while the Conservatives rejected that prediction and accused their opponents of using unsupported figures.
At an unrelated press conference after the letter became public, BC NDP leader David Eby said the Conservatives had privately agreed to changes he said would benefit trial lawyers at drivers’ expense and warned families could not absorb a doubling of their insurance bills. MoveUP president Annette Toth charged that the plan would “line the pockets” of private insurers and trial lawyers.
In a separate BC NDP media availability shortly afterward, Port Coquitlam MLA candidate and B.C. Minister of Transportation Mike Farnworth defended Enhanced Care and criticized the Conservative approach. Farnworth said the prior system could leave people waiting years for court decisions and pointed to legal fees taking roughly one-third of settlements, adding that ongoing treatment under Enhanced Care could exceed what would be available through a settlement tied to an at-fault driver’s insurance coverage.
Farnworth also said the Conservatives’ hybrid model would raise premiums and reiterated support for public insurance. In response, the Conservatives said the BC NDP and MoveUP were using alarming premium figures and argued that their proposal would improve support for people seriously injured by reckless drivers.
The Conservatives pointed to a 2022 Ernst & Young study that compared insurance prices for 30 driver profiles across nine provinces. In that study’s example for an 18-year-old male novice driver with a 2012 Honda Civic, the average annual premium across sampled B.C. cities was $2,551, compared with $5,936 in Alberta, a $3,385 difference; the figures were for that specific driver profile rather than an average across all drivers.
The Conservative campaign said the province’s next general election is on Saturday, Oct. 24, and said the letter outlines commitments for what a Conservative government would introduce after that election.
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