IBC supports systemic change for Ontario auto insurance
1 January 3, 2018 at 7:01 pm by Steve Kee
Last month The Globe and Mail published a three part investigative series “Licensed to Bill”, describing a systemic problem with how injury claims are settled in public and private auto insurance markets in Canada.
Insurers are eager for systemic change, which is why they welcome the announcement in Ontario of a new Fair Auto Insurance Plan. The new plan promises to tackle entrenched problems like “duelling assessments,” along with many other problems that must be fixed to lower the cost of auto insurance for consumers. The Globe’s series echoes the findings of the recent report by David Marshall, Ontario’s adviser on auto insurance, who is also highly critical of that province’s current system, which requires lawyers and insurers for collision victims to each gather their own medical information.
Marshall’s description of the problem as “dueling assessments” captures how the current system in Ontario is costly and time-consuming for everyone. Marshall further observes that the current system does not benefit consumers and undermines public confidence in the objectivity of the claims processes.
These issues exist in every province in Canada. And consensus is that every province in Canada would benefit from significant reform. It’s why Canada’s private insurance industry supports the vast majority of the findings of the Marshall report and the conclusions drawn by the Globe series.
Ontario’s new plan has the potential to reduce friction between parties and help injured drivers recover faster by providing measurable medical rehabilitation services in a timely and effective manner. All Ontarians will benefit from a streamlined and less expensive system that also maintains the current level of benefits. Ontario’s Fair Insurance Plan could serve as a model for auto insurance systems across the country.
Ontario’s property and casualty insurers pledge to continue to partner with the government and other stakeholders to make the auto insurance system better for all Ontarians.
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Happy New Year to All;
This has become a delicate subject and affects many service and rehab providers in Ontario. The Marshall Report was prepared by someone unfamiliar with the nuances of the auto insurance system. What perhaps is achievable under WSIB cannot and should not be the same for Auto. These are 2 different systems with different agendas.
I have worked both sides i,e. defense and plaintiff and while I still do some defense work, most of work is plaintiff driven.
First, the defense vocational evaluators’ have not demonstrated depth of knowledge assessing such claimants. The plaintiff evaluators’ do so and argue the limitations raised by the MVA injuries to the plaintiff. This difference is paramount as it accounts for the injuries and vocational limitations poised and caused by the accident.
DAC’s in the past were mainly insurance driven and opinionated but did little to help return someone to their pre-accident roles.
The adversarial system works well for the claimants as it tries to establish what is best in the clients’ interests. Without such discussion and confrontations, clients’ interests will left by the wayside. Insurance is a contract for service delivery. It needs to be honoured and if insurers are do so, they need to understand the ramifications to one’s life after they have been in an MVA and where a client’s life has been disrupted.
The contract is to help restore an individual’s life, not to undermine the effects of their injuries and hence minimize claims costs. Reverse the tables on yourself. Assume you were seriously injured. Would you want to work in a call centre eg? Would you want to earn a fraction of what you made before? Time to get real. Insurers are making a boat load of money. Their relationship with the present Liberal gov’t is overbearing. In any contract their exist certain principles that are essential. Keep these front and centre, we will need them.
David Cohen
Practising in vocational rehabilitation 45 years!