Ontario’s premier defended recent changes to car insurance rules that critics say will see Ontario drivers paying more for less.
The changes, which came into effect on Wednesday, outline a standard auto insurance package which provides a maximum of $50,000 in medical and rehabilitation benefits and caps attendant care benefits at $36,000. Benefits for no-fault packages remain unchanged with a maximum of $1.1 million in medial rehabilitation and $1 million in attendant care benefits for catastrophic injuries.
Premier Dalton McGuinty announced in a news conference Wednesday that despite holding the line on insurance premiums for Ontario drivers, the province “can’t keep that down forever.” He added, “I think we’ve come up with a pretty good and sensible option, which is to give drivers, motorists a choice when it comes to the kind of package they want to purchase.”
According to the government, the benefit to Ontarians is that they can choose to increase these benefits according to their needs.
Critics of the new changes point out that for most Ontarians, insurance costs may decrease, but so will basic coverage. This will force drivers who want to maintain their current coverage to pay more to get it.
NDP House Leader and critic Peter Kormos advocates in favour of a public system, like those used in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec. He fears these dramatic changes will “boost premiums and reduce the amount of coverage and put accident victims in peril of being victimized twice.”
Speaking to reporters, Progressive Conservative MPP Norm Miller took issue with the changes offering more protection for insurance companies and less for drivers. He accused the government of choosing to refrain from “cracking down on those who game the system through fraud, ambulance chasing and excessive injury assessments” and simply passing the cost of fraud on to drivers.
Insurance companies have long complained that many service providers simply charge the maximum benefit payout regardless of the services required. These changes are designed to offer greater protection against this type of fraud by limiting the maximum amounts for benefit payout.
Finance Minister Dwight Duncan cited statistics which show that between 2004 and 2009 the number of accidents in Ontario remained relatively stable while caregiver costs increased by 450 per cent and housekeeping costs increased by 280 per cent.
Duncan claimed the reforms are designed to “protect those nine million Ontarians who pay their bills for insurance every month and never make a claim.”