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Venting post regarding car insurance (pg. 4)
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| dEsidEL |
wells .. there was juss a news report on CBC about this tonite ..
IBC sez that premiums have gone up about 20% in Ontario .. whereas StatsCan said that it went up about 27% ..
main reasons they said:
#1. Insurance companies once investing their profits into the stock market are no longer getting such high returns (obviously) so they're downloading the costs back onto the drivers.
#2. Small accident claims are up. Oh yea .. way up.
what they plan on doing about it:
Government to put a limit on small accident claims to $2500 per incident thereby increasing Insurance company profits thereby lowering premiums for drivers. But this is supposed to be a controversial move .. |
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| OrZonE |
| ...and when will this plan be put into action? |
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| dEsidEL |
| quote: | Originally posted by OrZonE
...and when will this plan be put into action? |
don't think i was listening closely enuff to pick that up .. but i'm sure if u scour some news papers it'll mention it somewhere ..
here's something outta the Star too:
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...ol=968705899037 |
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| Ziggy |
hey guys.
Let's get on the facts and figures. I wouldn't mind hearing ur
age,
driving record,
claim number / accident number
car type
company ur with
and finaly, how much ur getting ripped off by.
I'm 23, 5 year licence, driving school and all that , G
no claims, no accidents, tickets are in court :p
It went up from $130 / month to $160/month in the past year.
Anyone knows if they raise ur insurance for 2 demerit points? |
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| sohaness |
| quote: | Originally posted by DigiNut
If I make $15 an hour, which is just a student salary and is painfully low compared to what I should be making after graduation, then that's $30 of my time every day that I lose by taking the bus because of the city's utter incompetence in building a proper public transit infrastructure. That's a little over $600 a month right there. So no matter what you do in this city, you get screwed out of your hard-earned cash - the only escape is if your workplace happens to be very, very close to your home.
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ummm...dont you work 8 hours/day?? 9-5 for example? if so, then it's your responsibility to be at work for the start of your shift. unless you work at a company that allows you to work however many hours you want in a day...and if that's the case, then hook me up!
steve. |
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| dEsidEL |
alrite .. i think i found the article ..
| quote: |
Jun. 16, 2003. 01:52 PM
Average joe awash in insurance woes
Brokers turn away new business
'Bad time to be in insurance'
BRUCE DEMARA
CITY HALL BUREAU
Heavy losses in the auto insurance industry are spilling over into the home insurance market, making it difficult for consumers trying to buy or renew policies, industry experts say.
Stephanie Lewis, a Toronto insurance broker, said she's receiving increasingly desperate calls from homeowners either denied coverage or whose policies are not being renewed.
"The amount they (insurance companies) are paying out apparently for claims, especially in auto (insurance) under bodily injuries, is so exorbitant ... that they've just decided they just don't want new business.
"Home insurance, if there's claims or if there's anything wrong with the home ... or it's an older home, there's really issues. They really don't want the business and they just make it tougher and tougher," Lewis said.
Lee Romanov, who runs insurancehotline.com, which helps consumers shop around for insurance, said major companies are simply cutting back on the number of policies they're prepared to handle.
"What the industry has been doing, because they're experiencing such high loss ratios, they've been cancelling the brokers' contracts and they've been cutting back on the capacity. They've been saying to the brokers `We can't handle as much business,'" Romanov said.
Sally Praskey, a principal at Insurance Canada's Web site, insurance-canada.ca, and an author of a recent book on the industry, said the problem is growing across the country.
Praskey described the home insurance market as "extremely tight" and said insurers are becomingly increasingly strict in the conditions they set down before taking on new policies.
Praskey said she's received three recent complaints from Ontario residents.
In one recent case, a couple was informed by registered letter their policy would not be renewed 11 days before the policy was to elapse.
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The insurance industry in Ontario is `in the worst disaster I've ever seen.'
Stephanie Lewis, insurance broker
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The couple had been with the same company for 10 years but had put in two claims, putting them in a "high risk" category which ensured other companies would not cover them.
Another property owner complained that he simply could not get insurance on his home or two rental properties he owned.
Another couple complained they'd wanted to buy a home but couldn't get a mortgage without insurance.
The insurance company refused the policy unless they replaced an oil tank that was more than 25 years old.
Lewis said the insurance industry in Ontario is "in the worst disaster I've ever seen."
She recalled a recent client who, after putting in two claims for water damage, saw his premiums for a new property go from about $350 a year to almost $2,600.
"He's got a garage that's not covered because this company does not cover out buildings," Lewis said.
"It's a bad time to be in insurance, but worse, it's a bad time to be shopping for it."
Liberal MPP George Smitherman (Toronto Centre-Rosedale), the party's financial institutions critic, said he is receiving a growing number of calls from confused and worried homeowners.
Smitherman said it's not the fault of insurance companies which, faced with increasing losses, are reluctant to take on new business.
"At the end of the day, the government of Ontario has a responsibility to do a more effective job of protecting consumers ... against the kind of hardships that an improperly functioning marketplace presents to them," Smitherman said.
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source:
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...id=968332188492 |
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| dEsidEL |
actually .. and here's the one about the auto insurance..
| quote: |
Jun. 16, 2003. 05:44 PM
Private car insurance rates up 20% in past year
FROM CANADIAN PRESS
Automobile insurance premiums increased an average of 19.6 per cent in 2003 from 2002 in the six provinces that don't have public insurance programs, the Insurance Bureau of Canada said today.
"Drivers will have heard many figures bandied about during the past months in many regions," Paul Kovacs, chief economist for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said in a news release.
"IBC is working to provide a clear picture from a complete set of facts."
The Insurance Bureau found New Brunswick experienced the biggest premium hikes, at 27.5 per cent over last year, with Newfoundlanders seeing a 25.2 per cent increase.
The smallest increase was in Prince Edward Island, at 13.9 per cent.
Nova Scotia had a 23.4 per cent increase, Ontario had a 20.1 per cent rise and premiums in Alberta rose 15.4 per cent.
Insurance companies have attributed the higher premiums to rising health care costs from injury claims, while a stock market slump has squeezed the returns the companies generate from investments.
The figures from the insurance industry association were significantly below the 30 per cent national increase - and 70 per cent in New Brunswick - reported by Statistics Canada earlier this month as part of the consumer price index.
While StatsCan calculates insurance premium increases for a hypothetical fixed car and driver - for example, a five-year old Ford Taurus driven to work every day by a 35-year-old married man - the Insurance Bureau calculated the actual average of all the policies in the six provinces.
"Buying behaviour changes, particularly during a period where premiums are rising and people will shop around and even change the terms of their policy to get a rate that's more comfortable for them," said the Insurance Bureau's Jane Voll.
"That's something that the (consumer price index) is unable to pick up."
The Insurance Bureau did not track auto insurance premiums in the rest of Canada, but provinces with government insurance report lower increases than the provinces with private insurance. Quebec, where a basic insurance policy costs an average of $549, has seen a 14 per cent increase over the past 12 years. Manitoba Public Insurance offers basic coverage of $581 and has not had a rate increase in the past five years.
The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia increased rates by an average of 7.4 per cent in 2002 and 3.9 per cent in 2003, while Saskatchewan Government Insurance hasn't hiked rates since 2000, when they were increased by an average of two per cent.
"We know the cost of providing car insurance is quite similar across the country," Voll said.
"(Car insurance) is defined differently in each province - whether or not you're allowed to sue for extra damages; whether there is a limit on that or no limits; if you're injured how much compensation you'll receive.
Depending on what (each province has) decided, their product will be more or less expensive."
The Insurance Bureau's data also confirmed that growth in claims costs has outpaced growth in premiums for several years because of high injury claims, the Insurance Bureau said.
From 1996 to 2000, car insurance prices were stable, but grew by nine per cent in 2001, 15 per cent in 2002 and almost 20 per cent between March 2002 and March 2003.
"There was a lag, but the higher cost of claims has finally led to higher prices," Kovacs stated.
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source:
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...ol=968705923364
oh yea .. and this is what they plan on doing about it:
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...id=970599119419 |
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| Pyromancer224 |
I can't afford teh insurance so i've never driven
i dont even have my g1 yet!! no need for it, no good for ID |
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| TrueToTheCrew |
The fact of the matter is that Insurance companies take their revenue and invest it in Mutual funds / stocks etc. Since the market is doing so ty, Insurance companies are losing money big time. It also doesnt help having these people who get into a fender bender and claim a life time of trauma and sleepless nights expecting large settlements from insurance companies.(not to say that there arent valid cases).
I guess i lucked out this year anyway. My rates only went up about $150. Primary owner/driver of 00 Accord 2 door only $1800 (for now).
I guess we as the young consumers always take it in the end. Hopefully when markets pick up this issue will disappear. |
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| TrueToTheCrew |
| I guess i should of read desidel's posting. |
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| dEsidEL |
wells here's some good news for y'all .. (kinda)
Tories to move on rates today
Industry will save $400 million in insurance costs
No guarantee that consumer will see big reductions
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...ol=968793972154
short quote:
| quote: |
Sources say Eves' government has finally approved:
A set price for initial treatments for minor whiplash injuries that insurers must cover without question.
A mandatory deduction of at least $25,000 — up from $15,000 — from court awards for pain and suffering to further discourage lawsuits.
A ban on exceptional price increases for drivers who bounce a cheque, or submit claims from damages that were not their fault. Only a minority of insurers apply surcharges or refuse to renew drivers who have multiple not-at-fault claims.
Restrictions to insurers who vary rates radically between postal codes in the same city. Some insurers have greatly varied rates depending on number of thefts and accidents in a certain neighbourhood. They would no longer be allowed to do this without compelling statistical evidence, if at all.Steps to curb aggressive tactics used by lawyers and paralegal advisers to pry large cash settlements from insurers.
A code of conduct for paralegal advisers, including a requirement for errors and omissions insurance.
The government has already passed legislation giving itself the authority to introduce these changes. The changes can be brought in through an order-in-council, and implemented after a period of public notice expected to last a few weeks.
These and other initiatives are likely to produce significant savings, but not large price reductions across the board, industry insiders say.
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| DJ_ALFA |
| I feel the pain as well, I am paying $230/month for a yk3 Mazda Pro ES GT, and I think that's not cheap, the whole industry is corrupted |
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