Auto Insurance Update and Our Thanks
Since we last wrote about auto insurance in the pandemic, many things have changed: our hours, ICBC’s rules for what transactions can be processed remotely, the availability of pasta and canned goods in grocery stores.
What has not changed is our commitment to providing you with the exceptional service you expect from us. Things look different for our team now, however, so we wanted to give you some insight into the new lives of our auto agents.
Pre-pandemic – remember then? When you could be within 6 feet of other humans, and playgrounds weren’t heartbreakingly covered in caution tape? – our auto insurance team completed about 3,000 transactions on average each month. Our Uptown location is normally open seven days a week, and statutory holidays, for Autoplan insurance, so that’s about 100 transactions a day on average.
As soon as our walk-in service was suspended, and all correspondence was moved to phone and email, we noticed a surge in these numbers.
Now, our ICBC Autoplan team receives around 300 calls a day, as well as 200 emails, and lots and lots of voicemails. That’s more than five times what our “normal” was before COVID-19. It’s so many calls, in fact, that our phone lines are having trouble keeping up! Our main phone number – 250-595-5212 – is still active; if you are unable to get through, please call back later, or send an email to [email protected], and accept our apologies for the inconvenience. You can also request your ICBC renewal through our website.
Fortunately, we were able to bring some of our experienced auto insurance agents who had recently moved into different roles back to help manage this unprecedented call and email volume!
To enhance our efficiency and increase the number of clients we can help each day, we have created multiple teams to work together to respond to all emails and voicemails within three business days, and answer as many calls as possible every day.
Volume is not the only thing that has increased, though: every transaction is taking a little longer now as there are extra steps when processing ICBC insurance remotely, and, understandably, lots of people have lots of new questions!
Everyone’s life is different in some way now and, for many, that means changing their car insurance. We want to make sure you have the coverage that’s right for you, and that you are not paying more premium than you need to – maybe this means changing your rate class (which is determined by the use of the vehicle), or putting storage on your vehicle while you are staying home (a big cost-saver, as you can imagine).
We appreciate that a lot of people need their cars insured to get to work and appointments, and to help those in their families and neighbourhoods who are more vulnerable. We are so happy we can help you continue with your essential work, and with your community support, and are striving to provide you with the service you need. We encourage you to contact us with a bit more time before your renewal date than usual, if possible, to ensure we can have everything processed for you before the renewal date.
Because we can only have a very small number of people working in our offices, many of our auto agents are suddenly working from home, which is always an adjustment, especially for those who are used to completing every transaction in-person, like our ICBC team. We know it is an adjustment for you too, no longer being able to see the person helping you or walk away with your new documents and decals, and we thank you for your adaptability!
We are sincerely grateful for your patience and support during these unusual times, and want you to know we are here to answer any questions you might have about your auto, home, business, boat, or life insurance. Enough things are scary and difficult right now – insurance shouldn’t be!
To everyone in our Megson FitzPatrick community, THANK YOU.
Morgan Thomas, BA (Dtn.)
Project Management & Customer Experience Coordinator