Ont-Insurance-Delay-Update |
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SOURCE: CP |
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TORONTO -- The Ontario
government is defending a delay in cutting auto insurance rates, blaming an
administrative backlog in processing insurance company rate filings. |
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The Liberals say all new rates
will be approved by July 15th. |
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Still, that's three months
after the April 15th date the government initially set for lower new rates to
take effect. |
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Diane Flanagan, a spokeswoman
for Finance Minister Greg Sorbara, says the documents filed by the insurance
companies on January 23rd were complex and took more time to process than
expected. |
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So the government hired more
staff from an actuarial firm to deal with the backlog. |
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Flanagan says some lower rates
came into effect in April, while the rest will come into effect by
mid-July. |
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Decreases so far have averaged
about 10 per cent. |
N-D-P finance critic Michael
Prue says since the new rates only apply to renewals, it could be nearly a year
before everyone sees a decrease.
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