Ontario’s Budget Announcement on Auto Insurance: An Avalanche of Attrition Continuing to Crush Victims’ Rights

According to Ontario’s Liberal government, the 2015 Budget is about “enhancing the quality of life of people” and striving to “build a fair society, with strong health care” and “support people with disabilities”. Ironically, the proposed amendments to the Insurance Act regulations will likely defeat this very purpose by draining our health care system, denying needed treatment to those who need it most and lining the insurance industry’s pockets further.

More/ source:
http://otlablog.com/ontario-budget-part-2/

Poll follows a report released by the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association

POLL RESULTS

The results of the latest Law Times online poll are in.

In the continuing battle between personal injury lawyers and the insurance industry over who’s responsible for high auto insurance costs, a large number of responders say they’re both to blame.

According to the poll, 46 per cent of poll participants feel both groups “are in it for themselves.”

Another 37 per cent of responders sided with personal injury lawyers, saying the insurance industry makes plenty of money.

The remaining 17 per cent of participants took the side of the insurers and said personal injury lawyers are driving up costs through generous contingency fees.

The poll follows a report released by the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association that suggested drivers are paying far too much in premiums due to the excessive profits earned by insurance companies. The Insurance Bureau of Canada has responded that lawyers are to blame for high costs through high legal fees.   

http://www.lawtimesnews.com/201505044650/inside-story/monday-may-4-2015

Ontario’s Health Care Budget – Time to Cut the Fat?

The release of Ontario’s budget last week prompted comment from the president of the Ontario Medical Association, Dr. Ved Tandan, that the government’s policy of taking from the health care system to balance its budget is putting the healthcare system in jeopardy. Population growth and unmet needs for family doctors and other services are being ignored, he says. This is certainly an important and complex issue. That said, budgeting requires a careful look at unnecessary spending to determine where cuts can be made.
 http://otlablog.com/cut-the-fat/

Lawyers’ fees not transparent

We believe personal injury lawyers should disclose their fee arrangements to the insurance regulator so that the regulator has access to and can better understand all costs associated with the auto insurance product.

http://www.cambridgetimes.ca/opinion-story/5592594-lawyers-fees-not-transparent/

http://www.cambridgetimes.ca/opinion-story/5588567-insurance-companies-reaping-profits/

Ontario Budget: Drivers and Accident Victims set to pay the price for Further Auto Insurance Coverage Restrictions

Trial Lawyers Call for Immediate Pause in "reforms"

 

TORONTO, April 24, 2015 /CNW/ - Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) is calling on the Ontario government to hit the pause button on sweeping restrictions to coverage announced in yesterday's provincial budget.
OTLA is recommending a moratorium on any changes pending thorough consultations with all stakeholders in the auto insurance sector on how to fairly and equitably reduce rates and ensure continued fair coverage for victims.

Source/more:

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1524445/ontario-budget-drivers-and-accident-victims-set-to-pay-the-price-for-further-auto-insurance-coverage-restrictions

Ontarians Overpaid For Auto Insurance By Up To $4 Billion

By Gary Parkinson - Sat, 2015-04-11 07:03 

 

A damning report on the auto insurance industry in Ontario was released yesterday by two York University professors in Toronto, on behalf of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association. The report suggests insurers were allowed to overcharge insurance premiums dating back to 2001, which may have cost Ontario drivers as much as $4 billion in overpriced rates.



Source / more:
http://www.lowestrates.ca/news/ontarians-overpaid-auto-insurance-4-billion-1656 

Industry draws fire for support of petition

one broker, Ken MacCoy of RitePartner Financial Serivces, who stated that “charging contingency fees of up to 45 per cent on settlements is almost criminal. No wonder Ontario auto insurance rates are so high.”

Source / more:
 http://www.insurancebusiness.ca/news/industry-draws-fire-for-support-of-petition-190434.aspx 

Fee cap proposed for personal-injury lawyers

Days after an opening salvo from the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, the insurance industry has replied with its own broadside, endorsing a proposed fee cap on personal-injury lawyers.

More/source:
http://www.insurancebusiness.ca/news/fee-cap-proposed-for-personalinjury-lawyers-190277.aspx

We Were Right.. Auto Insurance Rates Are Too High

If you’re one of the multitude of Ontario drivers who figured you were getting ripped off on your auto insurance, it turns out you were probably right.

A study commissioned by the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association found that something called the Profit Benchmark, which is used to set rates is way out of whack .

 

More/source:

Hamilton, ON, Canada / AM900 CHML | Hamilton News

Bill Kelly April 13, 2015 05:22 am

http://www.900chml.com/2015/04/13/we-were-right-auto-insurance-rates-are-too-high/

Ontario drivers overcharged $3 billion on insurance, study says

The average family should have paid $100 to $120 less for auto insurance in 2013 

Ontario drivers were overcharged $3 billion over a decade by highly profitable insurance firms while accident benefits were slashed

More/source:

http://www.kingstonregion.com/news-story/5551656-ontario-drivers-overcharged-3-billion-on-insurance-study-says/

 

IBC Fact Check: Trial lawyers' 40% fees gut victims' benefits

40%: That's the share that some personal injury lawyers in Ontario take from accident victims in contingency fees. While many lawyers take less – a quarter or a third – insurers and drivers all agree: lawyers' fees are simply too high and have a significant impact on the cost of auto insurance.

In 2013, lawyers received an estimated $500 million from injury claimants out of their insurance settlements for bodily injury claims. These are real dollars that never make it to the claimant. IBC will continue to fight for increased transparency so that consumers can actually see where their insurance dollars go. 

More/source:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1516193/ibc-fact-check-trial-lawyers-40-fees-gut-victims-benefits

Ontario Drivers Pay Excessive Auto Insurance Rates while Company Profits Soar

Trial Lawyers Call for Immediate Rate Reductions with No Cuts in Coverage, Full Review

 

TORONTO, April 10, 2015 /CNW/ - A major study released today shows the need for immediate reductions in Ontario motorists' high auto insurance premiums, the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association says.

The study, conducted by York University Schulich School of Business Professors Fred Lazar and Eli Prisman, reveals in 2013 alone, consumers likely overpaid by $840 million.

"Auto insurance companies in Ontario have had a relatively free ride during the past 20 years. It is conceivable that premiums have been too high and as a result, consumers in Ontario have paid too much for auto insurance," the professors' report says.

"We estimate that consumers in Ontario may have overpaid for auto insurance by between $3 and $4 billion over the period 2001 to 2013."

The report says that the profit benchmark set by Ontario's insurance regulator at 11 per cent return on equity, should be no more than 5.5 per cent given today's low interest rate environment. Ontario's insurance regulator recently changed the profit cap, allowing insurers to earn even higher profits. 
A copy of the study is available here
 
The Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA), which commissioned the new study, calls on government to roll back the high rates that Ontario motorists pay, while halting any further reductions to auto insurance benefits. Insurers reduced coverage in 2010, while profits soared even higher.

"It is now up to the government to do the right thing and implement an immediate, orderly reduction in the profit cap and ensure that savings are passed along to consumers," said Steve Rastin, President of OTLA. "We must also ensure that coverage is not cut further for the thousands of injured car accident victims in Ontario," he added.

OTLA also recommends that Ontario's Auditor General conduct a fully independent review of auto insurance in Ontario.

"It's time for the Auditor General to step in to examine every aspect of auto insurance. For too long, we have not had all the facts and we simply cannot leave it to big insurance and their consulting actuaries," Rastin said.

"We need a thorough and truly transparent review that gets to the heart of costs in the insurance business. For example, we know that insurers spend millions on assessments just to deny legitimate claimants – about 50 cents for every dollar of treatment. Insurers should not be able to count those assessments as part of the overall claims cost. We need to put an end to that practice and also curb the abuse of accident victims who must endure endless intrusive assessments," added Maia Bent, President-Elect, OTLA.

More/source:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1515829/ontario-drivers-pay-excessive-auto-insurance-rates-while-company-profits-soar