CAC Fights High Auto Insurance Prices
General News
Consumers' Association of Canada Fights High Auto Insurance Prices
(October 28, 2003) Auto insurance has become a very hot consumer issue across Canada. How hot? Just ask the consumers of New Brunswick! Consumers in that province, having experienced auto insurance rate increases of up to 300%, voiced their displeasure at the polls almost un-electing the Lord Government. In response to this situation, the New Brunswick Government decided that the way to try and keep rates down was to reduce benefits paid to innocent victims of crashes.
The Consumers' Association of Canada (CAC) stepped into this issue by publicly disagreeing with this action and recommending that New Brunswick look at implementing a public auto insurance system modeled after the one in British Columbia. A few days later the Government of Nova Scotia decided to also not take any action to have private insurers reduce rates and instead opted for reducing benefi ts to car crash victims. Again, the Association made its views known that consumers should be fully protected and these Maritime Governments were simply "tinkering" with the system with no guarantee that rates for consumers would go down. It was time for these Governments to take steps to really protect consumers.
Bruce Cran, National Secretary of the CAC, was designated as the spokesperson on the auto insurance issue. Cran says, "given consumer concern over rising insurance prices and discriminatory practices, the Association is planning other initiatives to raise consumer awareness and ensure the consumer voice is heard by government and industry across the country." One of those other initiatives is a detailed study, to be released in September, comparing insurance rates across the country. Cran adds, "currently, the CAC is the only group standing up to the insurance companies in order to protect consumers."
Cran has conducted more than 70 media interviews across Canada, including radio talk shows, and national TV news shows. The CAC’s comments appeared on the front pages of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald as well as in papers such as the Toronto Star. "The CAC press statements and positioning resulted in the Association receiving the most significant national media profile in the last ten years. At the moment, this is clearly the top issue for consumers across the country," says Cran.
Read or download a copy of CAC's groundbreaking study "Review of Auto Insurance Rates - 10 Provinces, 40 Cities" (September 2003).