While the final report on the auto insurance dispute resolution system authored by former justice Douglas Cunningham arrived in February with barely a ripple, the legislation tabled to implement it has caught the insurance bar and industry by surprise.
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Discriminating against injured? Provisions of Liberals’ Bill 171 may be good for lawyers, but won’t help accident victims
“What kind of government creates laws that discriminate against injured and disabled citizens by denying them the same access to justice that every other citizen enjoys in a democratic society?”
That question was recently posed by FAIR (Fair Association of Victims for Accident Insurance Reform) in an open letter to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne concerning Bill 171 — the so-called, Fighting Fraud and Reducing Automobile Insurance Rates Act, 2014.
http://www.torontosun.com/2014/03/29/discriminating-against-injured
Opposition politicians criticize Ontario government proposal to reform auto insurance dispute resolution system
“We are going to make sure that this bill does go to committee, because there’s a lot of work – tons of work – that needs to be done with that word that has been thrown loosely in there about helping consumers with the fraud piece,” Teresa Armstrong, a former insurance broker who is now the NDP MPP for London-Fanshawe, said in the legislature. http://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/news/opposition-politicians-criticize-ontario-government-proposal-to-reform-auto-insurance-dispute/1002985263/
FSCO 3 yr Review on auto insurance submissions due March 31st
Time is running out to let our government know about how consumers and accident victims feel about the quality of Ontario’s automobile insurance coverage. Let your voice be heard before the government caves in again to the demands of Ontario’s wealthy insurance providers and forgets – it matters what happens when you have to use the policy only to find out the coverage isn’t there or you’ve been denied on the basis of a bogus medical report or you are without treatment you need or without the basics to survive or your claim has been stalled or you are sick of being under surveillance or any of the other issues that you feel the government has failed to address. Like Bill 171 and restricting access to justice for accident victims. But be heard, don’t let the industry and the IBC drown out your concerns and tell them that you “understand the significance of what has happened with auto insurance in Ontario in the last six months” alright – accident victims’ coverage and access to benefits have been under attack. http://www.bramptonguardian.com/opinion-story/4431169-letter-insurance-rates-falling/
For more information on the current review: http://www.fsco.gov.on.ca/en/auto/Pages/ontario-auto-insurance-3-yr-review.aspx
The last Five Year Review was July 14, 2008. A total of 90 submissions were received. http://www.fsco.gov.on.ca/en/auto/5yr-review/Pages/default.aspx
The resulting report led to the 2010 slashes to coverage with MIG. See the Five Year Review of Automobile Insurance March 31 2009 http://www.fsco.gov.on.ca/en/auto/5yr-review/Documents/FiveYearReviewReport.pdf
Economical Insurance and Federation Insurance to discontinue writing insurance in Newfoundland and Labrador
The company cites “limited opportunities for profitable growth combined with a challenging regulatory environment” as key considerations in its decision.
Ontario seeks stakeholder input on towing and storage recommendations
Additional consultation meetings on towing and vehicle storage, facilitated by KPMG, took place in late January and early February 2014 with two 18-member Advisory Groups representing diverse stakeholder communities.
Quarter of polled U.K. policyholders prepared to commit application fraud for cheaper car insurance
Forty percent of respondents – identified as insured drivers and policy decision-makers – believe the cost of their policy is too high, and many are taking fraudulent measures to reduce the cost, notes a statement from LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a provider of information to help predict, assess and manage risk. http://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/news/quarter-of-polled-u-k-policyholders-prepared-to-commit-application-fraud-for-cheaper-car-insurance/1002971394/
Auto Insurance Decreases – What This Means for You
About 10 to 15% of our auto insurance rates are allocated to cover the billion dollar insurance fraud industry. A large part of auto reductions are based on the successful reduction and/or elimination of insurance fraud. As voters, it is imperative that we encourage our politicians to fix the fraud problem quickly, as this will have a huge impact on the successful implementation of auto rate reductions. http://www.csib.org/auto-insurance-decreases-means/
How to Best Leverage the Use of Surveillance and Investigation in Court Part 3
If a defendant wishes to use surveillance or investigative material as substantive evidence at trial, the defendant must comply with Rule 30.09, which sets out strict procedural requirements. Rule 30.09 requires the defendant abandon its privilege claim in writing, and provide a copy of the video, report or document to the plaintiff at least ninety days before the commencement of trial. Failure to comply with Rule 30.09 will limit the use of the material to impeachment purposes only, except with leave of the trial judge. The court has taken a strict approach to Rule 30.09 as can be seen in Youseef v. Cross, Giroux v. LaFrance and Smith v. Morelly. http://blog.mcleishorlando.com/blog/how-to-best-leverage-the-use-of-surveillance-and-investigation-in-court-part-3/
A great first step – IBC comment in the Sun
Bill 171 is a huge step in the right direction, which is why the Insurance Bureau of Canada is pushing hard for all-party support when it comes to a vote in the Legislature (“Little benefit for victims,” Alan Shanoff, March 16). It’s a solid attempt to fix the broken dispute resolution system and it would re-set the interest rates for pre-judgment interest. The current pre-judgment interest rate for “pain and suffering” damages was fixed at 5% more than 20 years ago when the floating rate for these damages was 13.9%. Now, of course, market rates have dropped well below 5%, making 5% a vast overpayment. Not everything about Bill 171 makes sense to us. While we support speedier resolution of disputes, the proposed timelines sound unrealistic. Overall, with Bill 171, the government has sets its sights on fixing a very longstanding and thorny regulatory mess — the auto insurance dispute resolution process. Moving the dispute resolution process to the License Appeal Tribunal is an excellent first step. We look forward to working together to help put the staged car accident business out of business. That’s the only way to stop those who are illegally or inappropriately sucking money out of the system at the expense of injured motorists.
Ralph Palumbo Vice-President, Ontario Insurance Bureau of Canada(We agree with Shanoff. We see nothing in this legislation that helps people who are injured in car accidents) – Sun Editor