The auto insurance industry in Alberta earns billions of dollars in annual revenue. New proposed legislation changes could now limit the rights of Albertans through “no-fault”. In a no-fault system insurers have more control in the courts when determining fair compensation for an injury victim.
Insurance companies are now aggressively lobbying the Kenney government to impose “no-fault” insurance (similar to a WCB type of system). No-fault auto insurance is common in jurisdictions where the provincial government plays a larger role as seen in British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
Evidence in the U.S. and other provinces shows that “no-fault” does not reduce premiums, but leads to higher costs and fewer protections for consumers. When first enacted in Ontario and elsewhere, no-fault auto insurance was considered a way to combat high premium costs. However, studies have shown no-fault systems are consistently among the highest-cost auto insurance jurisdictions.
A recent poll found that only 20% of Albertans support a move to a no-fault system and that 61% of Albertans want to maintain at-fault insurance. Contrary to a no-fault system where insurers have more control than the courts, 69% of Albertans said they believed a judge and the court system was the most fair and trusted arbiter to determine what is fair compensation for an injury victim.
It begs the question: who would you prefer to be the decision-maker if you are injured in a car accident: a judge or an insurance company?
If you want to learn what the insurance companies are up to, and what you can do about it to protect your family and friends in case they get hurt in a collision in the future, please visit:
fairalbertainjuryregulations.ca .
Our government needs to hear from us. Email your MLA regarding this month’s Nanos poll: https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/albertans-prefer-current-car-insurance-system-over-potential-no-fault-structure-survey-1.4971645