The member of provincial parliament who spearheaded the 15 per cent auto insurance rate drop said drivers are “tired of waiting” and that some drivers are still seeing rate hikes despite industry profits.
NDP MPP Jagmeet Singh, who was the driving force behind the agreement to win his party’s support for minority Liberal government budget last spring, questioned the commitment of the auto insurance sector to the 15 per cent reduction target.
“Eight months after the budget promised a 15 per cent reduction in auto insurance, some drivers are still seeing hikes despite healthy industry profits,” Singh, who represents the Greater Toronto Area riding of Bramalea-Gore-Malton, told reporters. “Drivers are tired of waiting.”
According to the Financial Services Commission of Ontario report which is expected to come out today, auto insurance rates have dropped an average of about 4 per cent, which is on pace for the targeted 8 per cent reduction set for this August.
But for the Singh, the progress has been too slow, questioning the transparency of the insurance industry.
“They’re nowhere near 15 per cent and they’re nowhere near the 8 per cent that they promised in one year. It’s unacceptable,” Singh told reporters at Queen’s Park. “For them to think they can achieve this goal magically at the end of the year is, in my opinion, not being forthright with the people of Ontario.”
The 15 per cent rate cut was a major component for the Liberal government to obtain NDP backing of their spring budget. The new anti-fraud measures introduced by Queen’s Park in June of last year were designed to weed out those health clinics that were overbilling or defrauding insurance companies (see related story,
Rehab clinics fined the maximum $100,000).
Ralph Palumbo, the Ontario vice president of the
Insurance Bureau of Canada, expressed the frustration of Ontario insurers that everything possible is being done to meet the 15 per cent target.
“(The NDP) needs to take ‘yes’ for an answer,” Palumbo told the
Toronto Star, adding that insurers have “done their bit and played ball.”
