2.64M B.C. drivers still waiting for gas rebate announced in March

Millions of drivers are still waiting for their rebate cheques issued when gas prices reached record highs in British Columbia, and although prices continue to climb, they shouldn't expect anything more in the mail.

Premier John Horgan promised B.C. drivers a bit of help back in the spring. He said the provincial government would send out $110 cheques to most people with auto insurance, an effort to help make ends meet after prices reached all-time highs in February.

The premier said the cheques would be issued through the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia. The initiative would cost $396 million.

TIMELINE

Initially, drivers were told to expect their cheques in May into June, but as of the first week of July, millions are still waiting.

In an email to CTV News this week, a spokesperson from ICBC said the rebates started to go out in June, and that nearly 600,000 customers have received their money.

Those who pay for their insurance through direct deposit or credit card got the rebate first, as planned.

Another 260,000 cheques sent by mail have been processed, ICBC said, bringing the total to 860,000.

But millions more are waiting.

ICBC said the total number of relief rebates issued will be about 3.5 million. The latest update suggests 2.64 million haven't received the rebate they were told about in March.

ICBC was asked by CTV News for a timeline for the remainder, but did not provide specifics initially, saying only that another 200,000 cheques are scheduled to go out this week.

In a later email, the Crown corporation said it is on track to send the rest of the cheques by the end of the month.

Prior to that update, this article contained a hypothetical outline of how long it would take if ICBC intended to continue sending 200,000 per week.

In that scenario, it would take 13.2 weeks, meaning some drivers would be waiting until October.

Fortunately for those counting on the money, ICBC says that won't be the case.

ANOTHER REBATE?

At the time, the rebate was first promised, the industry blamed the Russia-Ukraine conflict for the pain at the pumps. The record was then 214.9 cents per litre.

Prices never really went down after that.

Drivers have paid less here and there, but they've also paid more.

Over one weekend in June, gas stations were charging as much as 236.9 cents per litre in the Metro Vancouver area.

Despite the fact that drivers are paying quite a bit more at times than they were in February, when the rebate was announced, there is currently no plan for an additional rebate, ICBC told CTV News.

And so far, the provincial government has not followed the lead of others that have directly intervened with prices.

Last week, Ontario opted to cut the provincial gas tax, causing an 11-cent drop in the per-litre price for gas. 

Before that, Alberta took the step of halting its gas tax of 13 cents per litre in March, in an effort to help drivers struggling with the costs. 

In B.C., no action has been taken beyond what the province said was a one-time rebate cheque, which drivers criticized as potentially not even covering one tank of gas, depending on the vehicle.

The unprecedented gas prices also didn't change a plan from the government to increase the provincial carbon tax on April 1.