Ontario auto insurers eye usage plans that may cut rates by 15%

Anyone who would let an insurance company stick a black box in their car isn't playing with a full deck.

So, what's so wrong with ICBC and Quebec's no-fault insurance that we have to get gouged by these for-profit insurers who can do whatever the hell they want with us?

It's like the American health care system. It costs more because someone is sucking a 35% profit margin off of it and returning nothing for it.

I had public auto insurance in Manitoba. Made a claim with Autopac and the car was processed by Autopac almost immediately, into Boyd's that same day, came out fixed right as rain. Entire process took a week.

Made a claim in Ontario, from start to finish the process took well over a month. Insurance company had a million and one excuses for the delays, and they definitely didn't rush me my payout. They also screwed me on a replacement vehicle and the value of my write off. Insurance in Ontario cost me three times what it cost me in Manitoba.

Night and god damn day!

We simply should not allow for-profit insurance companies to exist. Period. They create a deadweight loss on any market in which they are allowed to operate.

Amen. They are parasites.

I assume you mean to restrict your definition to Auto insurance. As 'for profit' insurance covers property, life, disability, health, dental, critical illness and long term care. Although you can argue there is public insurance for health it is restrictive and does not cover items like prescription drugs, chiropractors, massage therapist, etc.

I have also seen the for profit provinces have lower auto rates from time to time than the public provinces. Ontario may be an exception to that statement.

Many things are exceptionally expensive in Ontario. No one seems to know why.

Hint: The 407 was sold to private "concerns" without any kind of legislative process for a fraction of the construction cost that was borne by the ratepayers of Ontario, given a 99 YEAR LEASE to charge the same ratepayers whatever the hell they want to, without any regulation.

... and we think that Quebec is corrupt? This place has been totally bought and sold ... largely to land developers.

I assume you mean to restrict your definition to Auto insurance. As 'for profit' insurance covers property, life, disability, health, dental, critical illness and long term care. Although you can argue there is public insurance for health it is restrictive and does not cover items like prescription drugs, chiropractors, massage therapist, etc.

I have also seen the for profit provinces have lower auto rates from time to time than the public provinces. Ontario may be an exception to that statement.
I said "any market". There's nothing that private insurance companies offer that could not be achieved cooperatively through non-profit associations. There's no reason to allow insurance companies to exist in any form. What's even worse is when governments force, by law, citizens to purchase policies (which is the primary failure of Obamacare) under threat of criminal prosecution for failure to do so. It's government-backed, government-imposed usury.

Many things are exceptionally expensive in Ontario. No one seems to know why.

Because Ontario wants us all to move to Alberta, for some reason.

Many things are exceptionally expensive in Ontario. No one seems to know why.

Because Ontario wants us all to move to Alberta, for some reason.

Hmmm... You know what the going rate is for someone in the health & safety / private protection field?

I have to disagree with you there. The innovation in the industry has come from for profit companies. For example critical illness coverage came out of South Africa and is arguably more important today than life insurance. We have only had it in Canada since the 1990s thanks to for profit companies. Governments or not for profits do well when something becomes a commodity, but progress stagnates. Where there is a profit incentive you have innovation as providers try to differentiate themselves from the competition. Things like apps for smart phones that track your group health coverage has come from competition. A single source provider lacks the incentive to develop new programs.

We could elevate government or non-profit programs to include more than they do today, but there always seems to be a shortfall to the need. For example how would you fund a buy/sell agreement? What would you do in estate planning?

In the end we need a combination of for profit and not for profit to meet the needs of individuals.

I'm not convinced that insurance is a field that has experienced any sort of revolutionary innovations over the course of its history to remotely justify its economic returns. I'd be pleased to hear of stagnation in the quest to separate me from my dollars in evermore-creative insurance scams. You make it sound like underwriters are breaking new ground for humanity like cardiologists and transplant surgeons. For profit insurance is, at best, a Ponzi scheme and, at worst, usury.

Comparing insurance rates between provinces is pointless. Manitoba and Ontario do not have the same population size, population density, demographics, topography or climate.