Insurance News - Thursday, July 31, 2014

Here are the leading auto insurance headlines from ONTARIO AUTO INSURANCE TOPICS ON TWITTER for Thursday, July 31, 2014:

• It took a while but a Toronto-based staged collision ring has been slapped with more than $800,000 in fines and restitution for false insurance claims that contributed to more than $4 million in fraudulent claims.
• Auto insurance and ridesharing: When personal and business uses of a vehicle converge, coverage confusion arises.
• Men and women can both be terrible drivers but in different ways.
• A look at the public v. private auto insurance debate - which works better?
• Is it true that low highway speed limits mainly benefit auto insurance companies in the form of higher premiums?
• A published study suggests that enforced laws banning texting produced 3% reduction in traffic fatalities for all ages.

Insurance News - Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Here are the leading auto insurance headlines from ONTARIO AUTO INSURANCE TOPICS ON TWITTER for Wednesday, July 23, 2014:

• Car crash scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated with the latest wrinkle involving organized groups gaining access to medical clinics to cash in on lucrative payouts for phony insurance treatments.
• Auto insurance fraud is more frequent and sophisticated, with organized groups replacing individual fraudsters.
• Ontario's efforts to reform the insurance sector and clamp down on fraud in the Toronto area have not slowed the problem of staged car accidents.
• There seems to be a debate going on as to whether self-driving cars will mean less traffic or in fact more congestion.
• Google may be ready to launch self-drivering cars in the near future but they may be more than 10 years away because we're just ready for them.

Insurance News - Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Here are the leading auto insurance headlines from ONTARIO AUTO INSURANCE TOPICS ON TWITTER for Wednesday, July 16, 2014:

• Ontario Liberals have re-introduced and combined Bills 171 and 189 as Bill 15.  The legislation contains some of the controversial changes introduced in Bill 171 including a reduction in prejudgment interest and restrictions on the ability to resolve SABS disputes in court.
• FSCO has released the second quarter 2014 rate approvals.  Only five  rate filings were approved representing only 14.5% of the market.  The filings reflect an average increase of 0.22% when applied across the total market. Although this represent a small portion of the market, it seems to suggest that the government's rate reduction strategy is stalled.
• A U.S. company will soon begin selling a kit that lets you turn your existing car into a self-driving vehicle. The system is being billed as the world's first "highway autopilot" and will cost about $10,000.

Anxiety and Depression Does Not Necessarily Exclude One From The Minor Injury Definition

A recent FSCO arbitration case (by an ADR Chambers arbitrator), Lo-Papa and Certas Direct, determined that the existence of anxiety and depression following an accident does not necessarily exclude one from the minor injury definition or the $3,500 treatment cap.

In Lo-Papa and Certas Direct, the claimant was involved in a MVA on October 20, 2010 and at the time of the accident complained of pain in her spine and head.  At the arbitration hearing she stated she suffered from headaches, lower back pain, leg pain. anxiety and depression.  Her physician confirmed that she suffered from anxiety and depression, but did not address the question of whether her anxiety and depression were the predominant impairments or whether her symptoms were not clinically associated sequelae and therefore, exclude her from the minor injury definition.

The arbitrator noted that, as confirmed in the Scarlett v. Belair appeal decision, the burden of proof rests with the claimant to show that her injuries fall outside the minor injury definition.  This decision confirms that a claimant can sustain psychological impairment in an accident and still fall under minor injury definition.  However, if the psychological impairment is predominant then it will likely be outside the minor injury definition and the $3,500 cap.

Insurance News - Monday July 14, 2014

Here are the leading auto insurance headlines from ONTARIO AUTO INSURANCE TOPICS ON TWITTER for Monday, July 14, 2014:

• Why Ontario pay the highest car insurance rates in Canada - crowded roads, fraud, private delivery, take your pick.
• An alarming proportion of Ontario teenagers admit that they have texted while behind the wheel of a vehicle, says a survey of Grade 7 to 12 students in the province conducted for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
• Editorial: Steps should be taken to curb dangerous texting by teen drivers.
• Premier Wynne says Ontario will bring back bill to toughen penalties for distracted driving.
• Will insurance companies be the greatest contributors to the success of self-driving cars?
• The tipping point for telematics is going from an installed device in the insured's vehicle to a downloaded app on their phone.

Insurance News - Thursday, July 3, 2014

Here are the leading auto insurance headlines from ONTARIO AUTO INSURANCE TOPICS ON TWITTER for Thursday, July 3, 2014:

• Finance Minister Charles Sousa says Ontario Liberal government is still committed to lowering auto insurance rates by 15% by August 2015.
• Google and Detroit on a collision course regarding self-driving cars and car ownership. The auto makers are focused on accident avoidance systems while Google is talking about moving from an ownership model to a service model.
• Should the blind, drunk and elderly be allowed to operate driverless cars? The road rules may need to change.
• According to a recent survey of women in the insurance industry. leadership roles in the industry still lack gender diversity.
• Carfax has expanded Damage Reports for Canada auto dealers.

Insurance News - Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Here are the leading auto insurance headlines from ONTARIO AUTO INSURANCE TOPICS ON TWITTER for Wednesday, July 2, 2014:

• Car-sharing companies and insurers are in a state-by-state battle over their business model.
• How Google might put taxi drivers out of business.
• Meet Ray, the self-driving forklift that is parking cars at a German airport.
• The OPP suggesting distracted driving could be the cause of over 50% of accident (I think there is under-reporting).
• A great article about seniors driving. The numbers are growing despite declining physical abilities.

Ontario Auto Insurance Reforms

It appears Ontario's never ending auto insurance reforms are gearing up again.  I thought it would be fun to look at a Monty Python sketch on insurance.

Happy Canada Day!