INJURIES DRIVE COSTS

Re “Time to speak up about car insurance” (Alan Shanoff, Jan. 12): We agree but there are a few points to note. The 2010 reforms were designed to address auto insurance abuse by those who derive income providing services to people involved in collisions. In 2009, the average cost of a medical/rehab claim in Ontario was $55,343, compared to $6,135 in Atlantic Canada and $2,776 in Alberta. It was clear the cost of a medical/rehab claim in Ontario was excessive, especially as a majority of claims were for minor sprains and strains. The 2010 reforms helped limit abuse. In 2012, the average cost of a medical/rehab claim was $26,594. Opponents of independent medical examinations (IME) have their opinion, but insurers rely on IMEs to provide fair and balanced second opinions. It’s regrettable that insurers have to resort to IMEs so frequently — a cost to the system that insurers would like to avoid. However, they’re used because of the large number of claims seeking to skirt reforms by claiming to have more serious injuries. IMEs are conducted by regulated health professionals who are members of regulated health colleges. Medical assessors are expected to attend to the interests of the injured person before all else. Colleges will impose sanctions if conduct is suspect.

RALPH PALUMBO

Vice-President,

Ontario

Insurance Bureau of Canada

(The issue isn’t one of “opinion”. The reality is that genuine accident victims are constantly being assessed by biased individuals who have a vested interest in keeping costs to the insurance companies low. That’s entirely different from reducing fraud)

DROWNING IN FINE PRINT

Re: “Time to speak up about car insurance” (Alan Shanoff, Jan. 12) Insurance companies are in business to make money and they have a very powerful lobby. To expect thems to “play fair” with the insured is like hoping a bully will return the lunch money they took from you. For hundreds of years, these companies have been operating on one principle — drown the victims with “fine print” and let them die a slow and often painful death. It’s been called the biggest legalized racket in the world because governments are in partnership with insurance companies by making laws requiring us to have auto insurance coverage. The big health insurance mess in the U.S. is another glaring example of these powerful insurance companies doing their best to make life difficult for the hapless public.

ALFRED TSANG

MARKHAM

(There are certainly many examples of it happening)