Ontario’s newly appointed auto insurance advisor, David Marshall, is being pressed to launch a full public inquiry into the quality of medical evidence used in auto insurance claims.

On Monday, his first day in the chair, Marshall received a call from the FAIR Association of Victims for Accident Insurance Reform, which claims that Ontario's auto insurance system is “troubled and dysfunctional”.

Rhona DesRoches, chair of FAIR said: "It is not an exaggeration to say that we are in a crisis when it comes to medical evidence in auto insurance claims. Ontario's auto accident victim's medical files are routinely manipulated by Ontario's auto insurers to delay and deny claims," she said.

FAIR wants a public inquiry into what it believes is systemic abuse of Ontario's vulnerable and injured car crash victims by Ontario's insurers and courts system.

While it’s well reported that fraud is rife in the auto insurance sector, according to the FAIR organization, about half of all claims are initially denied by auto insurers, and the court system is allegedly abused by insurers to delay payments to legitimate claimants.

The group claims that this results in the improper and wasteful expenditure by insurers of hundreds of millions of insurance premium dollars on medical reports to legitimate claims and a cost to Ontario taxpayers for financial and medical support for victims whose claims have been denied.

DesRoches said there was a failure of Ontario's courts and judges to ensure that medical expert witnesses are in compliance with the Rules of Civil Procedure.

"The use of bogus medical reports and testimony has profound negative outcomes for MVA victims who are left behind by their auto insurer," DesRoches said.