AB.Auto Flashcards
identify the 7 goals of AB auto insurance reform
- private sector delivery model
Claims related: - claims handling: effective and sufficient
- medical benefits: make sure they are appropriate
- income replacement: easier access
Insureds related: - reduce costs
- stabilize rates: more affordable for AB in the long term
- sustainability: return auto insurance industry to LT competitive sustainability
describe the 5 findings of the Alberta auto insurance committee
- high premiums because increasing BI costs, non pecuniary specifically
- no mechanisms to control costs
- injury compensation was often either too high or too low
- health outcomes are worse under tort systems
- health outcomes improved when tort systems were eliminated and replaced with full no fault models
name 2 provinces with a pure no fault system
Manitoba and Quebec
identify the recommendations of the AB auto insurance committee
- replace hybrid and no fault model with pure no fault model
- introduce “continuum of care model” to promote appropriate medical evaluation assessment and treatment
why might a pure no fault system be cheaper and deliver more effective medical treatment?
benefits can be delivered without having to prove who is at fault
- less money to lawyers
- quicker access to medical care
describe how AB’s new auto insurance is recommended to work
create a “Traffic Injury Regulator”, including a Board and Tribunal to oversee the 4 arms of accident care and compensation
AIRB 2 CAME
- Claims Administration and support
- Claims Assessment panels for income replacement
- Medical Experts to evaluate injuries
- a reconstituted version of AIRB (Auto Insurance Rate Board)
how might the 4 arms of AB’s traffic injury regulator be funded?
by auto insurers who write business in AB proportional to their market share with some contributions of AB government
assess the likelihood of a successful legal challenge if AB’s auto reforms are implemented
a legal challenge would probably not be successful because:
- MB and QC already have a pure no fault system
- such systems have been judged to be within the scope of provincial legislative authority
- a challenge under Canada’s charter of rights and freedoms has no merit because all drivers are treated equally
- Morrow vs Zhang upheld the minor injury cap so a future charter challenge would likely not succeed either
identify regulatory reforms being considered for AB auto insurance
- switch from ‘prior approval’ to ‘file and use’
- make winter tires mandatory from Oct to March
identify problems that AB and ON auto insurance have in common
- rising cost of auto insurance (largely BI)
- inefficient delivery of medical care
what has been identified as a primary cause of problems in AB and ON auto insurance
both systems have a tort component which causes
- delays in medical care
- diversion of resources to the legal system
identify a similarity in recommendations to address these problems in AB and ON auto insurance
greater focus on timely medical care
identify a difference in recommendations to address these problems in AB and ON auto insurance
AB: convert to pure no fault system
ON: keep hybrid tort/no fault system but fix structural flaws by appointing an arms length regulator with powers to enact policies and procedures
