I have previously written about the auto insurance changes that came into effect on June 1 of this year.

While insurance benefits and premiums are treated as merely numbers on a screen for politicians and adjustors, this story places the changes into a human context:

An auto insurance rule change that took effect the day an Ontario man suffered severe injuries in a crash has left his family on the verge of bankruptcy as he goes through an expensive and drawn-out rehabilitation process.

If the crash had occurred just 12 hours earlier, he’d have been eligible for up to $2 million in compensation, according to the personal injury lawyer representing the family.

Instead, he received $86,000…

The father of twins survived with major injuries including brain trauma, multiple broken bones in his right arm, leg and hand, as well as internal organ damage.

Guess what? Under the new rules, his major injuries were no longer deemed “catastrophic.” Overnight, he’d been left virtually high and dry. He and his family are now out millions of dollars that can help in his recovery – if he ever does fully recover.

Con Game

No-fault benefits were designed to be a trade off: reduced tort benefits in exchange for access to no-fault benefits. Instead, we have decimated tort claims and heaped insult upon a no-fault system that is now wholly inadequate.

Remember, the government and insurers say that all of this is being done to save you money. Well, have your premiums gone down? Mine haven’t, either. We’ve been had.

People like the father in the article above are having their lives ruined by these cuts. Again, I ask you to give your MPP a call and ask if it is fair that your premiums are still not down the promised 15%, yet your catastrophic benefits have been chopped in half to the tune of a million dollars. Their answer may enlighten you.