Traffic is blurred in a timed exposure on the Gardiner Expressway during the evening rush hour in Toronto, Ont. on Wednesday April 30, 2014.Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency Ontario drivers can now carry electronic proof of their auto insurance on their smartphones or other devices.Finance Minister Rod Phillips says the pink paper insurance slip isnt being eliminated yet, but being able to display the information on a phone can save drivers from rummaging through their glove compartments.He says there will be a one-year phase-in period, when insurers will have to issue a paper card in addition to the electronic option if it is requested.Phillips says the electronic cards will feature safeguards that wont allow them to be altered or edited, and privacy concerns are top of mind.Drivers will be responsible for making sure their phone can display the proof of insurance, even with a poor signal, drained battery or damaged screen.The Insurance Bureau of Canada says consumers have digital options in other sectors such as banking and retail, so auto insurers are pleased their customers will have the same
Origin: Pink auto insurance card goes digital for Ontario drivers
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Couple loses $14,000 after buying stolen SUV covered by Manitoba Public Insurance
2015 Ford Explorer LimitedGraeme Fletcher When a Manitoba couple bought a used 2015 Ford Explorer for $14,500 from an independent seller last August, everything about the deal appeared legit. They had no idea the vehicle was one of thirteen taken from a Winnipeg used car dealership in an alleged inside job involving a former sales manager. The SUV looked and was running fine, and the paperwork was all there. Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) was happy to cover the vehicle for its new owners, which as you’d expect made them feel completely safe in their new purchase. But all was not as it seemed, and soon the police came for the vehicle, seizing it and telling the owners it had been stolen from a Winnipeg dealership. According to the CBC, the vehicle hadn’t been reported stolen by the dealership, Auto List of Canada, when its new owners went to have it insured at MPI, which is why it didn’t set off any alarms. Normally the company’s system prevents registration of stolen vehicles, but police weren’t notified of the Explorer’s theft until two days after it had already been sold. It all unraveled for the thieves when a call from Winnipeg police informing Auto List of a stolen vehicle prompted the dealer to do a count—turns out 13 vehicles had disappeared from the lots. From there it was simply a matter of following the paper trail. Two men, including a former Auto List sales manager, have been charged with multiple counts of possessing stolen vehicles, forging bills of sale and transfer of ownership documents, and defrauding the purchasers. The hot Explorer was returned to Auto List, leaving the couple that purchased it out the full $14,500. MPI says they can attempt to bring legal action against the person who sold the hot SUV.
Origin: Couple loses $14,000 after buying stolen SUV covered by Manitoba Public Insurance
Newfoundland and Labrador eliminates taxes on auto insurance
Twillingate, Newfoundland, in the background with the 2018 Toyota Camry XSE V6.Sarah Staples Despite Newfoundland and Labrador having the highest insurance rates in Canada, the government is taking steps to lower the cost. According to The Telegram, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball announced to ministers and supporters that automobile insurance tax would be eliminated as part of the 2019 auto insurance reform. “Eliminating this tax can be added to the suite of reforms and will be dealt with in the House of Assembly. We have worked very hard to not just to stabilize but to bring back sustainable measures to our province and restore confidence for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.” The high cost comes from the lack of limits on personal claim amounts, Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province without a maximum cap on payouts. This was a heated issue between the Insurance Bureau of Canada and a group of personal injury lawyers that formed the Insult To Injury Campaign, which seeks to protect accident victims. After fighting it out at the Public Utilities Board, an official report was presented on January 29th. There was still a divide. Service NL Minister Sherry Gambin-Walsh spearheaded the list of measures to stabilize the rising costs of insurance which included increasing the current deductible from $2,500 to $5,000 for bodily injury claims. We reported that Alberta is seeing inclines in insurance premiums up to 11.2 percent, and other provinces are also seeing a rise, up to 9.0 percent in Ontario and 6.5 percent in Atlantic Canada. The data was sourced from LowestRates.ca, who released the 2019 Auto Insurance Price Index for Q1, which tracked the average cost of car insurance. Rates are as high as they’ve been since 2016 when LowestRates.ca started tracking them, while governments are trying to enact laws that will lower the insurance rates for drivers with mixed
Origin: Newfoundland and Labrador eliminates taxes on auto insurance
Drivers in Alberta saw the steepest hike in auto insurance rates
The upcoming hard market for insurance wont be easy on your wallet.Susan Gamble / Sun Media Of all the provinces in Canada, Alberta drivers saw the steepest rise in their auto insurance over the last year, with Ontario and Atlantic Canada not far behind. In the first three months of 2019, rates have climbed 11.2 per cent in Alberta, while they’re up 9.0 per cent in Ontario, and 6.5 per cent in Atlantic Canada, according to online insurance comparison site LowestRates.ca. The site released its Q1 (first quarter) 2019 Auto Insurance Price Index, which tracks the average cost of car insurance each quarter. The site said that the price rise was further aggravated in Alberta and Ontario by the announcements that Esurance and AIG Insurance will leave Canada, and that other companies have said that price caps in those provinces have led to them paying out more in claims than they received in premiums in some instances. In Atlantic Canada, the highest prices are in Newfoundland and Labrador, which the Insurance Bureau of Canada says is due to a lack of limits on minor injury claim amounts, while the other provinces have capped the maximum payout. The report broke down insurance costs for men and women in the first quarter of 2019, when compared to the last quarter of 2018. In Ontario, men paid 9.4 per cent more, while women paid 6.3 per cent more. In Alberta, the rise was 4.7 per cent for men and 2.1 per cent for women; and in Atlantic Canada, rates climbed 0.7 per cent for men and 4.1 per cent for women. Some rate hikes were even higher when compared to the first quarter of 2018, with drivers in all three areas hit with increases as high as 11.6 per cent. The site reports that prices are now in at the highest levels in most markets since it began tracking prices in 2016, even though governments are trying to enact laws that will lower insurance costs for
Origin: Drivers in Alberta saw the steepest hike in auto insurance rates
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