Readers nodded in agreement with
Aviva Canada’s take on Bill 15, and the need for continued efforts by all stakeholders to make auto insurance viable.
“The demand by government to reduce auto rates, albeit initiated by a party that appears to have lost interest since the election, seems paramount to the time it will take to reduce claims and those that are fraudulent,” wrote Paul Armstong, commenting on the article, ‘
Battle is won but the war continues.’ “The Liberals,
et al should relax the balance of the 15 per cent rate reduction ‘til it's seen that good results from passing the bill have occurred; otherwise there will be some spin off problems.”
Bill 15 – which targets insurance fraud and tightens the claims process – was applauded by insurers and the Ontario brokers’ association for taking positive steps to help repair what is widely viewed as a dysfunctional auto insurance system.
Aviva Canada, which also praised the passage of the Bill into law, did point out that further change is needed to fix Ontario auto insurance.
“We are pleased that the Ontario Government passed Bill 15 without issue, it is a good first step,” said Karin Ots, senior vice president of regulatory and government relations for Aviva Canada. “But to truly affect long-term change for the Ontario auto insurance system, we need to reduce claims costs to be in line with other provinces.”
Ots pointed out that for every dollar that Aviva collects in premium, 65 cents is paid out in claims costs.
For one reader named Duncan, the key to meeting the provincial government’s 15 per cent targeted premium reduction – which is set for August 2015 – is reducing the costs of those who benefit from injury claims.
“This means that for every dollar Aviva charges for auto insurance, they pay $0.31 to doctors, lawyers and others who benefit from injury claims,” wrote Duncan. “If they can halve those costs, then you automatically have the targeted 15 per cent reduction.”
What are Aviva Canada’s recommendations to reduce claims that were presented to Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa earlier this year?
Click here to find out.
