You can forget about those little ICBC date stickers on your licence plate from now on.
Starting on Sunday, May 1, B.C. drivers no longer need to display a validation decal showing the month and day their insurance is coming up for renewal.
No one’s saying you have to peel them off — it’s up to you whether you do so or just leave them on — but police will no longer need the decals to figure out whether your car or truck is insured.
Law enforcement and authorized ICBC partners have access to Canadian Police Information Centre and automated licence plate recognition to immediately find out whether a vehicle is insured — not to mention whether it’s been reported stolen.
The change comes along with the launch of fully online insurance renewals for the Insurance Corporation of B.C. May 1 is also the official launch date for online renewals, but thousands of ICBC customers have already done so. The insurer says the process can be completed up to 44 days before a policy expires and usually takes less than 10 minutes. It can be done on a phone, tablet or computer.
Insurance brokers will remain available for old-school renewals, but nearly three-quarters of respondents in a recent Ipsos survey said they plan to renew online.
To be clear, one thing won’t change: Regardless of how you renew, you must keep copies of your insurance documents in your vehicle at all times. Anyone without access to a printer can contact a broker to get printed copies.
