Ontarians overpaying for auto insurance
Posted May 2, 2018 12:40:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A new report finds that Ontario drivers have been overpaying on their insurance for several years.
According to the report, in the last five years alone, consumers have overpaid by $5 billion in excess premiums.
“Here in Ontario, we should be paying about $150 per vehicle less than we currently are,” said study author Fred Lazar, a Professor at York University's Schulich School of Business.
Lazar's findings also include data that shows insurers could rake in approximately $5 billion in pre-tax income from 2011-2016, including an estimated $1.5 billion in 2016. Those 2016 profits also represent an estimated 60 per cent increase over those from 2011.
The Ontario Trial Lawyers Association says the major issue lies in a lack of transparency from insurance companies, relating to their year-over-year profits.
Spiking insurance rates have also been a long drawn out political issue.
Kathleen Wynne's Liberals made a promise to cut rates by as much as 11 per cent by 2015, but that promise has never become a reality.
In the first quarter of 2018, insurance rates rose by 2 per cent.
