Anti-Fraud Task Force committee seeks public input on proposed measures to combat auto insurance fraud

The Steering Committee of the Ontario Auto Insurance Anti-Fraud Task Force is seeking public comment on several potential recommendations before it submits its final report to the government in the fall of 2012.

The steering committee also reported its difficulty in pegging a precise dollar figure to Ontario auto fraud, citing a KPMG study that put auto insurance fraud in 2010 anywhere in the neighbourhood of between $769 million and $1.6 billion.

The steering committee report goes on to note that Ernst & Young is reviewing the KPMG figures. Ernst & Young has indicated that KPMG may be underestimating the extent of overall auto insurance fraud in Ontario “because it does not specifically address premeditated fraud, which, as Ernst & Young noted, could range between $130 to $260 million per year.”

The steering committee is seeking public input on the following anti-fraud initiatives, among others:

• Regulation of health clinics.

• Regulation of the towing industry.

• Enhanced authority for the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), including the ability to regulate the business practices of health care treatment and assessment facilities.

• Tightened controls on the delivery of auto accident benefits, including a proposal that would allow insurers to bill claimants $500 as “a form of cost recovery” if claimants fail to attend a medical examination requested by the insurer.

• An ability to share personal information in a way that conforms with privacy legislation, but that would allow insurers and authorities to detect and prevent fraud.

• Providing insurers with broader civil immunity, so that insurers might be protected from civil suits for reporting to regulators or the police when they have suspicions of fraudulent behaviour by their own policyholders.

The full report and its recommendations can be found at:

http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/autoinsurance/status-report.html#sec1