“Unfair Burden” Prompts Advocacy to Province on Insurance Premiums

HALTON HILLS, ON – Rising insurance rates creating what the Mayor has characterized as "an unfair burden on taxpayers" prompted Halton Hills Town Council to pass a resolution calling on Premier Ford to take action.

A recent report noted that the municipality had reached a point where rising insurance premiums could no longer be funded through reasonable annual taxpayer increases.

The Town anticipates that the municipality’s total annual cost of liability insurance premiums has grown by $1 million over a five-year period, which represents a percentage increase of approximately 258% over that same time frame.

“These increases are unsustainable and have created an unfair tax burden on our residents,” said the Mayor. “In what other industry have we seen such a crazy increase? That’s why Halton Hills’ Council passed a resolution supporting the recommendations put forward from the Association of Municipalities (AMO) and calling on the Province to take action.”

AMO, an organization that works to represent and advocate for the common interests of Ontario’s 444 municipalities outlined seven recommendations including:

• Calling on the provincial government to adopt a model of full proportionate liability to replace joint and several liability.

• Implementing enhancements to the existing limitations period including the continued applicability of the existing 10-day rule on slip and fall cases given recent judicial interpretations, and whether a 1-year limitation period may be beneficial.

• Implementing a cap for economic loss awards.

• Increasing the catastrophic impairment default benefit limit to $2 million and increasing the third-party liability coverage to $2 million in government regulated automobile insurance plans.

• Assessing and implementing additional measures which would support lower premiums or alternatives to the provision of insurance services by other entities such as non-profit insurance reciprocals.

• Compelling the insurance industry to supply all necessary financial evidence including premiums, claims and deductible limit changes which support municipal arguments as to the fiscal impact of joint and several liability.

• Establishing a provincial and municipal working group to consider the above and put forward recommendations to the Attorney General.

Town Council’s resolution also called upon the Province to provide municipalities with appropriate grant funding until reforms within the insurance industry were implemented.

About the Town of Halton Hills

The Town of Halton Hills, with a population of approximately 60,000, consists of two urban centres, Georgetown and Acton, the Halton Hills Premier Gateway employment area, three hamlets – Glen Williams, Stewarttown and Norval and several smaller settlements. Halton Hills has long been recognized for its natural beauty, active agricultural community, high quality of life and proximity to major centres, including Brampton, Mississauga and Toronto. The Town is ranked as one of the top small communities in Canada by a national magazine.

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