Insurers question auto insurance rates report

Canada’s home, car and business insurers are questioning the Bruce Cran’s most recent auto insurance rate report, which the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBAC) Atlantic region calls a “bluff” of a study.
“We have already refuted the methodology and conclusions of earlier releases of the study in B.C. and Toronto.,” Don Forgeron, vice-
president, Atlantic, Insurance Bureau of Canada, says.
Forgeron calls Cran’s release “shoddily assembled” and “an insult to the consumers and media of Atlantic Canada.”
Cran claims there is a cap on pain and suffering awards in Newfoundland and Labrador but, according to Forgeron there isn’t.
The report also discusses age and gender as underwriting variables, but Forgeron says these are no longer uniformly used in the Atlantic Provinces.
Additionally incorrect according to Forgeron is Cran’s claim that rates have not come down. Forgeron clarifies this misstatement saying “government figures clearly show that they have come down throughout the region.”
Furthermore, Cran’s estimates of average premiums are consistently well in excess of actual premiums paid.
“If he can make these and other errors in a 300-word news release, can we have any faith in his study?” Forgeron asks.
For IBAC, Atlantic, Forgeron says the bottom line is that Cran demonstrates that he has “no idea what is going on with auto insurance in Atlantic Canada.”
According to Forgeron, IBAC, Atlantic, is happy to have a discussion about auto insurance issues.
Forgeron says IBAC and the public should be asking Cran where the numbers from his study came from as well as where and how did he get
the B.C. insurance quotes, which are not publicly available.
Cran should also, Forgeron says, explain why he refuses to reveal details about his methodology and funding as well as why he in light of recent issues in the insurance industry at large, he is not being transparent about the background of his report.