In the quest for innovation and efficiency, zany ideas sometimes pop up, and that’s OK — if the bad ideas are tossed out after proper consideration. No one should be criticized for suggesting the Insurance Corp. of B.C. consider collecting referral fees from car dealers — that’s called out-of-the-box thinking. But it should not be assumed that every new idea is a good one, and this one certainly isn’t.
Under the proposal, an ICBC customer who wants a replacement vehicle for his or her written-off vehicle would be referred to a car dealer or dealers. ICBC would not be involved in any vehicle sales, but would receive referral fees from dealers.
So far, it’s just a vague concept. ICBC couldn’t provide much in the way of details, but is advertising for input from the automotive sector. It is being proposed for Victoria, the Lower Mainland and Kelowna.
It’s hard to see any way this could be a workable idea. Pitfalls abound.
“Unexpectedly having to replace a vehicle can be challenging, and we want to help our customers by referring them to a vehicle purchasing provider that can offer them various purchase benefits and the assurance of buying a vehicle from a reputable and licensed source,” says ICBC spokesman Sam Corea.
That’s a dangerous approach — it could lead to the inference that a dealership that declines to sign on to the program is not reputable or licensed.
Suppose Dealership A signs on to the program and Dealership B doesn’t. Can Dealership A then advertise that it’s an ICBC-approved business? Does that put Dealership B at a disadvantage? It would seem so.
The corporation says the customer would not be required to buy from the referred company, but the process certainly would give a leg up to participating businesses.
And why is replacing a written-off vehicle challenging? Presumably, a person who has had a vehicle written off has bought a car before. Reputable and licensed car dealerships are in plentiful supply, and there is no shortage of sales representatives ready and willing to help people buy cars.
The ICBC referral comes with no guarantee. If a car turns out to be a lemon, tough luck — the corporation won’t get involved. Its sole responsibility after it refers a person to a dealership is to collect a fee.
The concept would open the door wide to unintended consequences. ICBC is a big organization with lots of muscle — car dealers who didn’t choose to participate could understandably feel threatened. The idea of a government entity referring people only to businesses that agree to pay a referral fee is odious. It could lead to favouritism, conflict or worse. Although it’s most certainly not what ICBC intends, this has a whiff of payola about it, a faint scent of a mob-like shakedown.
What’s next? Naming rights for ICBC facilities?
ICBC was formed to provide good, affordable insurance to British Columbians, on the presumption that the private sector’s priority was profit, not service to the public. This proposal might bring in some revenues to a Crown corporation struggling with rising costs, and it could help participating car dealers, but it does not serve the public, which should be ICBC’s first priority.
We trust this out-of-the-box idea will be quickly consigned to a different sort of box — the trash box.
