BUT
DRIVERS MAY HAVE TO WAIT A LOT LONGER TO SEE ANY CHANGE IN THEIR INSURANCE
BILLS. |
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Lower automobile insurance
rates for Ontario drivers will be approved by July 15, a spokesperson for
provincial Finance Minister Greg Sorbara said yesterday. |
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By then, Ontario's
superintendent of insurance will have approved new rates for all 61 companies
in the province that provide automobile insurance to drivers, said Diane
Flanagan of the minister's office. |
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"The bottom line is rates
are going down and most drivers will reap the benefit by the end of this
year," Flanagan said. "It will take some time to work through the
system, depending on when your renewal comes due." |
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The provincial Liberals were
forced to defend their record on auto insurance yesterday after The Free Press
reported Sunday a delay in premium cuts is costing Ontario drivers $575
million. |
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The delay was caused by a
bottleneck in processing filings from insurers. |
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During last fall's election
campaign, the Liberals promised to deliver cuts to auto insurance rates within
90 days of taking office. |
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Flanagan said some drivers
already are benefiting from the government's move to lower insurance rates. |
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Rates fell by an average of
just over 10 per cent after the superintendent approved changes for 55 per cent
of the auto insurance market by April 15, Flanagan said. |
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Approvals for the remaining 45
per cent of the market will be completed by July 15, she said. |
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Rowena McDougall of the
provincial Finance Ministry yesterday attributed the delay to processing
complications. |
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"The rate filings were
very complex and it takes time to go through them," she said. |
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Mark Arsenault of the Canadian
Automobile Association said the delay has cost motorists "a lot of
money." |
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Ontario motorists pay about $7
billion a year in premiums, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada. A
10-per-cent rate reduction puts about $700 million -- or about $58 million a
month -- back into the pockets of drivers. |
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Automobile insurance rates rose
43 per cent under the previous government, Flanagan said. |
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The Liberals vowed to lower
rates and moved on that promise on their first day in office, she said. |
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"We froze auto insurance
rates for 90 days by an order-in-council," she said. "We promised
rate reductions and that's what we're doing." |
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New Democrat finance critic
Michael Prue said the additional delays only hurt drivers who already are
paying too much for auto insurance. |
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"The promises were
unrealistic to begin with," he said. |
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"There was no way they
could effect that kind of reduction in the time frames they were talking about.
To compound that, they did not hire sufficient staff to process the
applications." |
Depending on when people renew
their auto insurance, it could be next summer before some people see the
promised rate decrease, Prue said.
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