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DECLARATIONS
ALBERTA AUTO
What changes mean for Alberta’s auto challenges Despite new bill, there’s still much work to be done, experts say
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oth the Insurance Brokers Association of Alberta (IBAA) and the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) believe that recent changes to auto insurance regulations in Alberta will reduce costs in the system. But more needs to be done around auto reform, they say. Bill 41, the Insurance (Enhancing Driver Affordability and Care) Amendment Act, received royal assent Dec. 9. Among other changes, the bill and related Orders in Council expand the number of injuries that fall under the Minor Injury Regulation and limit the number of expert witnesses that can be used in motor vehicle accident injury claims. “The bill really tackles the ‘low-hang-
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B Y J A S O N C O N T A N T, Online Editor
ing fruit’ which needed to be done,” said IBAA CEO George Hodgson. “However, much more fundamental reform is needed to take costs out of the system.” The association’s white paper on auto reform released in March 2020 recommended a hybrid no-fault system. IBAA suggested broadening the auto insurance product to offer Alberta consumers the option of choosing either an unlimited or limited right to sue (with certain parameters) in exchange for premium flexibility. An auto insurance advisory committee had recommended in September 2020 that the province move to a pure no-fault system delivered by private insurers, a change IBC said would not be in the best
interest of drivers. “The changes the government made were actually just updates to the current system, which is more just a hybrid between tort and a no-fault system,” Celyeste Power, vice president of IBC’s Western region, said just after Bill 41 passed second reading in November. “Under Bill 41, [consumers] still have the right to sue,” Hodgson added. “It is not pure no-fault.” Rather, the bill introduced a “direct compensation for property damage” framework into the system. This first-payer system for physical vehicle damage is in every other private auto insurance jurisdiction in the country, Power said. “Customers won’t notice any changes
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