Ontario continues to tackle auto insurance fraud, which will benefit drivers by helping to lower premiums, increase road safety and ensure people hurt in car accidents receive the treatments necessary to recover from their injuries.
In a Status Update delivered today, Ontario's Auto Insurance Anti-Fraud Task Force identifies a number of potential recommendations:
- Oversight of health clinics' auto insurance business practices
- Regulating the towing industry
- Expanding investigative authority for the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO)
- Mandatory disclosure by insurance companies about how they select and supervise their preferred service providers - including independent medical examinations; and
- Developing a consumer engagement and education strategy.
The task force's work builds on a series of recent changes the government has made to help address auto insurance fraud, including:
- Starting a pilot project using the Health Claims for Auto Insurance database to detect potential fraudulent activity
- Introducing new rules to ensure that health care treatments are provided as invoiced
- Issuing a guideline to prevent insurers from being invoiced for medical devices at a significantly higher than market rate; and
- Requiring CEOs of auto insurers in Ontario to annually attest that their accident benefit cost controls are effective and that claimants are being treated fairly.
Under the McGuinty government, auto insurance rates have risen at a slower pace than inflation, and Ontario's accident benefits remain the most generous in Canada when compared to other provinces with similar auto insurance marketplaces.