FAIR – supporting auto accident victims through advocacy and education
FAIR – supporting auto accident victims through advocacy and education
FAIR – supporting auto accident victims through advocacy and education
We would like to think that the well-being and recovery of Ontario’s accident victims is priority one for Ontario’s government. The constant erosion of coverage, the abuse of Ontario’s vulnerable accident victims by insurers and their experts tells us that this isn’t so.
FAIR response to FSCO Draft Statement of Priorities 2014 May 30 2014
Why is there no effort on the part of our government to fix this dishonest insurance system that at best can be described as run by insurance companies who are incompetent at handling the claims of their own customers and at worst as a dysfunctional corrupt system that is harming vulnerable injured Ontarians. Bill 171 further entrenches the existing abuses and then makes it more attractive to insurers to increase their rate of denials by rewarding them financially for doing so. By reducing the prejudgement interest insurers owe on payments to MVA victims that they failed to make in the first place, it is the insurers who will benefit. Bill 171 rewards those unscrupulous or incompetent insurers.
How does that fit in with an elected official’s duty to protect the best interests of Ontarians?
This is the first of three reports that the Ministry of Finance engaged KPMG to prepare as per the Auto Insurance Cost and Rate Reduction Strategy that was part of the 2013 Ontario Budget.
TORONTO, April 28, 2014 /CNW/ – The Standing Committee on General Government will meet to consider Bill 171,An Act respecting insurance system reforms and repair and storage liens.
The Committee intends to hold public hearings in Toronto on Wednesday, April 30, 2014.
Interested people who wish to be considered to make an oral presentation on Bill 171 should contact the Clerk of the Committee as soon as possible, as witnesses will be scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Those who do not wish to make an oral presentation but wish to comment on the Bill may send written submissions to the Clerk of the Committee at the address below by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 30, 2014.
An electronic version of the Bill is available on the Legislative Assembly website at: www.ontla.on.ca.
For further information: Telephone/Téléphone: 416-325-3515, Facsimile/Télécopieur: 416-325-3505, TTY/ATS: 416-325-3538, E-mail/Courriel:sylwia_przezdziecki@ontla.ola.org
Changes to auto insurance legislation in Bill 171 are beginning to get the discussion and attention in the legislature that Ontario’s MVA victims deserve after years of being maligned and labelled as ‘fraudsters’ by their insurance companies.
Ensuring that Ontario has a working insurance system that provides good coverage and an honest system of justice for accident victims is part of the bargain and the responsibility of the government. There is also a responsibility that accident victims are not harmed by the process itself by way of the lack of regulations and the harmful practices of some of Ontario’s medico-legal assessors during the course of a claim. We look forward to that issue becoming part of the debate. Media Release – BILL 171 – CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY FOR THE INSURANCE COMPANIES ACT April 16 2014
FIGHTING FRAUD AND REDUCING AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE RATES ACT, 2014
FIGHTING FRAUD AND REDUCING AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE RATES ACT, 2014
“A more accurate title might be the “Christmas comes early for the insurance companies act.” This is an act in which the government is proposing to hand out another gift to huge insurance companies, at the expense of all auto insurance policyholders and accident victims.”
“It looks like it’s going to be a lot more money going back into the insurance industry. “
“Payment delayed is payment denied. Many people have low incomes and are struggling to get by; when a company says to them, “We are just going to sweat you out and wait you out,” many will be compelled to settle for a lower dollar amount because they can’t afford to wait. They need the money to get on with their lives.”
“The reduction in the interest rate that is meant to give insurance companies an incentive to settle and make payment only serves the interest of insurance companies, only serves to undermine policyholders, only serves to undermine justice in this province. Speaker, this part of the bill—and there are other problems—is an unconscionable change.”
“Let’s be serious here: This bill is nothing more than the Liberal government, without any consultation with the victims of automobile accidents and without any consideration for the victims of automobile accidents, handing yet another gift to the big insurance companies. You know what, Speaker? It’s a gift from the McGuinty-Wynne Liberals that comes at the expense of all of us who drive and buy car insurance, the policyholders; and all of us who will ever be in an accident that wasn’t our fault, the innocent accident victims.”
“This government is proposing to wipe out recourse to an independent judicial system that safeguards the fundamental rights of citizens, rights we have all come to expect in this great nation we call Canada, and to replace the courts with a tribunal. What happens if you’re injured, you can’t work, and the insurance company refuses to pay your income replacement? You can’t sue. It’s false to suggest that this will provide cost savings to the insurance industry and reduce insurance premiums.”
“There are 22 pages and I still haven’t found anything on fighting fraud. I just find incentives for insurance companies to make more money and nothing at all about reduction for the payers of this province who are mandated to have auto insurance, which is a good thing, we know. But we would hope that people would be able to claim the benefits when they need this service the most.”
“It will cost us all more in the long run, and it will put more money into the fur-lined silk pockets of the insurance companies. Don’t be fooled. Don’t be fooled again by this half-baked scam. Don’t be fooled by what’s on the table. Yes, get it to committee, but let’s correct it. It has a lot of faults, a lot of difficulties, and it needs great improvement. ”
“These changes will make it even harder for victims, as many will not be able to afford it and will just give up the fight. And what do these changes have to do with fighting fraud? Absolutely nothing. All they do is make it easier for insurance companies to wrongfully deny benefits and delay settlements.”
We now have an insurance industry that appears to be spending more money to assess injuries than it does treating those injuries and this practice drives the claims costs up dramatically. Some insurers will assess victims until they get the report they want. Or pay exorbitant prices to assessors for preparation for court hearings that equates to more than they would pay in a year of income replacement. Those are the same claims costs that Ontario’s insurers complain about and that are generated at their end of the business. Rather than control their spending, it has become a game of slash the benefits at every opportunity to preserve their profit margins. It’s irresponsible to pass on the expenses of the often incompetent insurer or their deceptive business practices onto the claimant or pass these costs on to all of Ontario’s drivers through premiums.
I used to wonder why something as simple as insurance has gotten so very, very, out of
control. Out of control insurers, out of control profits, out of control wordhirlings, out of control pay-for-hire doctors. I have witnessed what they will do to protect their industry full of deceit, it disgusts me. CanadaInsuranceNewsSubmissionThreeYearReview2014