The Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) supports the province’s existing $2,500 cap on pain and suffering awards for minor auto injuries.
The HRM self-insures about 95% of its 1,400 vehicles, including 294 buses, police cars, fire trucks and snow and ice control equipment. About 70,000 passengers use HRM transit daily, with more than 17 million passenger trips daily.
“The cap has had a positive impact on insurance claims against HRM,” HRM said in its Insurance Cap Submission to the Province, submitted as part of the Nova Scotia's current review of the cap.
“Prior to the cap, HRM was experiencing a rising number of claims, leading to increased expenditures, legal costs and higher awards. As well, HRM’s own insurance premiums were increasing markedly.
“However, since the implementation of the cap, overall auto insurance rates in Nova Scotia have decreased by approximately 27%...
“In addition, HRM has seen its average cost of a transit claim drop by 26.7% and the average cost of non-transit claims drop by 30.5%.
“The combination of decreased premiums, fewer claims and lower claim costs has led to significant savings of taxpayer dollars.”
The province’s current NDP government came to power in 2009 on the promise of looking at alternatives to the existing auto insurance cap — including, potentially, the idea of scrapping the cap in favour of a deductible.
“To have any lasting impact, the deductible would need to be significant (Ontario, which took this approach, increased deductibles from $15,000 to $30,000),” HRM says in its submission. “This eliminates payment for minor injuries and is counterproductive to the stated aim of making compensation fairer.”
The provincial government is concerned the caps are not fair to accident victims. As part of its review, the province has released a discussion paper in which it suggests reviewing the definition and range of injuries considered “minor.”