Hard road for [Ontario] car crash victims: Why is the Ontario government taking away money they deserve and transferring it to the insurance industry?
BY ALAN SHANOFF, TORONTO SUN
For the past five years the Ontario government has been taking steps to transfer money from victims of auto accidents to insurance companies.
We’ve seen drastic decreases in no-fault accident benefits.
To compound this, last month the Ontario government issued a regulation increasing deductibles that apply when people injured in auto accidents sue the person or persons who caused the accident.
This was done quietly, without any debate or meaningful notice.
These deductibles apply to accident victims who have suffered serious injuries and want to sue the at-fault driver or vehicle owner for negligence.
Only victims who can establish they have suffered a “permanent serious impairment of an important physical, mental or psychological function” are entitled to sue to recover damages not covered by no-fault accident benefits.
It isn’t easy to meet this threshold. Medical evidence must be provided.
So these victims haven’t suffered minor or nuisance sorts of injuries but serious ones.
Prior to the change in law last month, the Ontario government mandated that any pain and suffering damage award to an accident victim of $100,000 or less would be reduced by a deductible of $30,000.
That amount is an arbitrary, made-up number that takes money out of the pockets of accident victims.
For example, if a jury awards an accident victim $50,000 in damages, the judge will apply the deductible so that the insurance company only has to pay $20,000.
Of course, jurors aren’t told about the existence of the deductible for fear they might bump up their awards.
As of last month, the deductible has been increased to $36,540. So now the recipient of a $50,000 award will only receive $13,460.
The recipient of a $100,000 award will only receive $63,460.
There’s no other area of law where such a deductible applies. It only occurs in auto accident cases.
To make matters worse, the Ontario government has also decided to increase the $100,000 threshold for the application of the deductible.
It has been bumped up to $121,799 ... More
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