Insurers pushing for more reforms soon

Thompson’s World Insurance News

Further reforms to the Ontario auto insurance system can still be initiated early this year through regulation changes despite the government prorogation amid Premier Dalton Mc- Guinty’s resignation last fall. 
    With this in mind, the Insurance Bureau of Canada is preparing a comprehensive package for all MPPs to highlight its ‘Price Is Wrong’ campaign and related consumer feedback — all of which insurers say is critical to maintaining reform momentum. 
    And in a further effort to ease auto insurance rate pressures, development continues on new fraud detection software, with the IBC providing input on governance principles, incorporation of a new entity to administer the new tool and a plan for bringing it to the marketplace.
    “IBC is working to ensure that needed reforms — in these and other areas — are implemented quickly and effectively by the government in the interests of all Ontarians,” IBC Ontario vp Ralph Palumbo said. 
    The Ontario government’s 2012 budget also identified an interest in exploring the implications of usage-based auto insurance. 
    IBC plans to hold a conference this year to raise awareness of such programs and to better understand the challenges and benefits. 
    In the Atlantic region, the bureau has been working with government and other stakeholders to implement the second phase of the Nova Scotia auto reforms. 
    And the bureau has been ramping up its outreach efforts to businesses and municipal and consumer leaders on the crucial role that p&c insurers play and on adapting to extreme weather.