By CRM staff
Toronto, Ontario — October 17, 2018 — The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is reviewing a bill introduced earlier this week, that looks at eliminating postal codes as a factor to determine auto insurance premiums.
Legislators from both the Progressive Conservative government and NDP introduced two separate but similar pieces of legislation on Monday to stop what they called “discriminatory.”
Both of the bills look at stopping auto insurance companies from charging drivers higher rates based on where they live. Parm Gill, a Tory legislator from Milton, Ontario addressed the point that the current regulations that are put in place have drivers from the suburbs of Toronto paying much more than drivers than anywhere else in the province.
If this bill is passed it would ensure drivers are evaluated based on their driving record and not where they live. With the price of auto insurance strongly correllated with the number of drivers in a particular region, it seems likely that collision repair facilities in those areas currently penalized by postcode could stand to benefit from the proposed legislation.
The NDP legislator, Gurratan Singh introduced a similar bill and says that his bill would make it cheaper for drivers in the GTA.
Under the current policies, auto insurance premiums depend on claims data, including the frequency and cost of collisions. “The current regulations are outdated and don’t reflect the realities of today’s drivers,” IBC stated in their press release.
“Ontario’s drivers look forward to an improved regulatory environment. Ontario auto insurers are actively seeking modernized regulation that enables them to meet the needs of Ontario drivers. We are committed to working with government to fix auto insurance in this province,” said Kim Donaldson, vice president, Ontario at IBC.
