TORONTO, April 15, 2019 PRESS RELEASE – Last week Ontario’s drivers received the first positive news they’ve heard in over a decade.
FAIR is pleased to see that coverage for the most injured of accident victims will be increased to the pre-June 2016 level of $2 million in med/rehab benefits for catastrophically injured Ontarians.
The concerns of motor vehicle accident (MVA) survivors under the previous government had been ignored and the erosion of coverage had allowed insurers to download a significant number of victims onto taxpayers who were already paying some of the highest premiums in Canada.
Auto insurance has been dysfunctional and broken for many years and this has left injured Ontarians to fend for themselves to find treatments when insurers ignored their responsibilities. The changes in the 2019 Budget are the first indication that this government was listening to consumers and they have a taken a good first step to improve things for this vulnerable population.
Car accident victims in Ontario have faced many barriers to recovery, both in the medical file manipulations by insurers who have been dodging the responsibility owed to their injured customers and in the increased legal costs of holding their insurers accountable.
According to Tammy Kirkwood, Vice Chair of FAIR “This government listened and heard the need for positive changes for the victims of MVA. It will be a good thing to see that insurance is going to start working to be the safety net we need after the traumatic event of an auto accident.” Ms. Kirkwood is herself a survivor of a horrific car accident with a dump truck some years ago and has dedicated much of her time to ensure that others have the same recovery options and resources as she did post accident. “We all deserve to be the best we can be and insurers should be on board with that as a promise to their injured customers.”
FAIR looks forward to working with stakeholders in a new era of “Putting Drivers First” in Ontario and toward protecting the rights of injured consumers to access the treatments they need in order to reach maximum recovery.
‘FAIR – supporting auto accident victims through advocacy and education’
SOURCE: FAIR Association of Victims for Accident Insurance Reform
For further information: Rhona DesRoches, FAIR, Board Chair at fairautoinsurance@gmail.com, http://www.fairassociation.ca