Just as Alberta insurance companies are looking to receive major concessions from the Alberta government that would bolster their profits, a new analysis shows that auto insurers in the province are expected to experience a pre-tax profit of almost $1 billion from 2019 to 2020.
The $953 million expected pre-tax profit is a result of the following factors:
- The steep premium increases taken from Alberta drivers in 2019 & 2020
- Declines in claim costs sustained by insurers for property damage claims, collision claims and comprehensive coverage claims, and continued stability in bodily injury claims, among other insurer cost decreases, and
- The short-term effects of COVID-19 which have included fewer drivers on the road and fewer accidents
The following breaks down the anticipated windfall for insurers:
Concern about profits is central to insurance company requests for insurance reform & rate hikes facing Albertans
Insurance companies have repeatedly claimed to the Alberta government that they are losing money and that provincial officials must make changes affecting the rights of Albertans if premiums are to stop escalating. Despite these claims that they’re losing money, this analysis, along with filings with the Alberta government show that Alberta’s insurers will be making hundreds of millions of dollars through 2019 and 2020.
It appears insurance industry lobbyists, having
found that no-fault auto insurance is unpopular with Albertans, now want to
change the legal definition of “minor injuries” to include chronic conditions
like concussions or traumatic brain injuries as a means to shortchange
Albertans and increase their profits.
These changes to Alberta’s insurance regulations are unfair to consumers, would
cut out unbiased courts from settling insurance disputes, and would result in
injured patients carrying more of the financial burden to support their
recovery.
Essentially, insurance industry lobbyists want to regulate our rights away for their profit by getting the government to let them off the hook of compensating Albertans who get injured in an accident. The big problem is the Alberta government appears to be listening and time is running out to encourage the government to change course and put the rights of Albertans first ahead of corporate profits.
