TORONTO -- Ontario plans to keep your auto insurance premiums from rising by letting you buy less coverage, limiting benefits for sprains and strains and cutting expensive medical assessments.
"We feel this is a very balanced package that will hold the line (on premiums) and give consumers more choice," Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said.
"Overall I believe that is something that will be very good for consumers."
Duncan said he's trying to keep premiums from rising while at the same time addressing complaints insurers have made about assessments and Ontario's relatively generous benefit scheme compared to other provinces.
He should have tried harder, critics said.
"Any fool can sell an inferior product for less money," New Democrat MPP Michael Prue said.
"When you have an accident, when you have non-catastrophic injuries, when you require supplementing your income because you're not working, you're going to find out what an inferior product you've bought."
Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak was also dismissive, saying Duncan missed a chance to clean up a system prone to abuse.
"I'm very worried that the reforms brought forward to date are actually about reducing coverage for people as opposed to going after the fraud and the waste in the system," Hudak said.
"The double digit increases we've seen in the past few months are simply unaffordable for Ontario families in today's economic environment."
The government is hoping the changes will make a complex system quicker and cheaper to use by capping the cost of a medical assessment at $2,000, with that money coming out of the total medical and rehab benefit. Rebuttal assessments -- where insurance companies and treatment providers spar over the extent of injuries -- are scraped altogether and disagreements will go straight to an arbitrator.
Benefits for minor sprains and strains will now be capped at $3,500.
The big change for consumers is they can now buy a lower "basic" level of insurance, with $50,000 in benefits for serious but non-catastrophic injuries instead of $100,000, and options for lower deductibles.
Reaction was mixed from industry players, with the Insurance Bureau of Canada and the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario giving the changes a thumbs-up.
"We are pleased that the government is taking the steps necessary to create a better auto insurance system for Ontarians," IBC president Don Forgeron said.
The medical rehab community and trial lawyers, though, were unimpressed.
"With today's announcement, the province is forcing U.S.-style 'pay as you go' health care on people badly hurt in motor vehicle accidents," Nick Gurevich, of the Alliance of Community Medical and Rehabilitation Providers, said in a press release.
"These people will be forced to pay out of their own pockets for private care. Many will end up in debt," Gurevich said. "The Liberal government has just abandoned them."
Scott Knight, president of the Association of Independent Assessment Centres, said the changes would prevent auto crash victims from getting the care they need.
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THE FIX IS IN
DWIGHT DUNCAN'S PRESCRIPTION FOR ROCKETING AUTO INSURANCE RATES
Finance Minister Dwight Duncan proposed changes to Ontario's auto insurance system, which should be in place next summer. They include measures to increase consumer choice and decrease the cost of medical assessments. The combination should keep premiums stable, Duncan says.
CONSUMER CHOICE
A new category of "basic" insurance coverage will let consumers:
- Choose $50,000 in medical and rehab costs for serious but non-catastrophic injuries. There is an option to increase that to $100,000 or $1 million.
- Choose a $500 deductible on property damage. There is an option to buy a $300 or 0 deductible.
- Choose a $20,000 deductible for not-at-fault victims who sue. There is an option for a $30,000 deductible and deductibles will no longer apply to fatalities.
- Choose not be covered for housekeeping, home maintenance and caregiver benefits.
- Brokers and insurance firms barred from using credit scores in preparing quotes.
ASSESSMENT COSTS
- Cost of an assessment capped at $2,000 and is now included in medical and rehab benefits. Fees to complete any form including an assessment to complete a form capped at $200.
- Rebuttal assessments scrapped.
- Benefits for minor sprains and strains capped at $3,500.
