|
Dear colleagues,
What Ontario’s 2023 Budget released yesterday has to say about auto insurance is mostly that the government might have more to say at some future date. In the meantime, it’s a déjà vu situation.
We see (once again) that “the current mandatory insurance product may not offer the choices Ontario drivers deserve. This is why the government intends to propose changes that over time would provide consumers with more options when purchasing automobile insurance.” This may be the third time we’ve seen this or similar language in the budget. Not that we’re in a hurry to see vital accident benefits go into a ‘choose your own adventure’ optional benefits bucket but it would be nice to know what exactly is being considered and if it’s in the cards for the foreseeable future.
And for some déjà vu on steroids we see this old chestnut: “Fraud is a major driver of costs in the auto insurance system.”
There is, actually, no data to support this claim. There is lots of data on rising costs (car parts and labour for starters) but there is no comparable data on fraud. But governments (this one, and the previous one) have become habituated to repeating this insurers’ line. How else to justify the unholy trinity of delay, deny and dispute and the maintenance of an expensive regulatory regime (FSRA) put in place to mitigate fraud?
We will as always follow developments and keep you posted as any proposed changes begin to see the light of day.
With thanks,
Laurie Davis
Executive Director
Interested in hearing a lawyer’s take on hot topics in the MVA world, join us on April 19 @ 1pm for our virtual, Q&A event Ask A Lawyer. Open to all. |
