Albertan industry 'in the dark' over motor reform.

(From Insurance Day)

Byline: Peta Miller

THE insurance industry in the Canadian province of Alberta says it has been kept in the dark about motor market reforms the government wants to push through in a matter of months. "People don't seem to know what's going on, which is causing a problem because it's a very secretive process," Jim Rivait, vice-president of the Prairies at the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), told Insurance Day. He says there has not been much consultation and although the industry has representatives on the government's Auto Insurance Reform Implementation taskforce, the IBC cannot talk to them because they are sworn to secrecy.

"They have to open this process so people can be involved meaningfully," he argues. "They've got a very tight time line I don't know if it's realistic. They want the implementation committee to have its work done by the end of August, have the reforms into legislation by November and implemented by January, but it's tough to reform a system in a couple of months."

Under the government's social policy proposal, motor insurance rates would be the same for everybody regardless of age or loss history. But rates should be based on the risks people pose, Mr Rivait says, an underwriting principle recently upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Instead, Mr Rivait warns policymakers may find they have gone down the wrong path and end up with more younger drivers on the roads paying less. "If you're going to move to using ...