New report calls on Alberta to reverse insurance changes
A new report is urging the Alberta government to scrap its “Care-first” insurance system before it even starts next year, warning that the plan will effectively strip Albertans of their right to sue.
Author: Quinn Patrick
A new report is urging the Alberta government to scrap its “Care-first” insurance system before it even starts next year, warning that the plan will effectively strip Albertans of their right to sue those responsible for causing them harm.
The legal firm Brownlee LLP said it is still possible for the provincial government to “reverse course on its decision to implement the new legislation,” arguing that it “takes away the foundational tort right to compensate the victim by putting them in the same financial position they would have been in but for the accident.”
At the UCP AGM in November, “members overwhelmingly voted to repeal the proposed no-fault legislation in favour of the existing fault-based tort system,” the report noted.
Critics say the legislation, which won’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2027, will reduce protection for injured parties and is unlikely to reduce insurance premiums.
Additionally, disputes regarding the payment of benefits will be heard by a tribunal that critics say lacks independence because its funding comes from private insurers.
For example, the tribunal will have “broad powers,” such as authority over “rules governing service of documents, appeal procedures generally, and any other matter it considers necessary.”
It may also order a claimant to undergo further medical evaluations, order the production of documents relevant to an appeal and conduct inquiries or investigations concerning appealed matters.
“The Tribunal may also conduct any hearings it considers necessary and can confirm, reverse, or vary the insurer’s decision that is the subject of the appeal,” reads the study.
“The victim will be left to deal with the consequences inside the constraints of a limited compensation system. The wrongdoers will face little to no consequence, thus removing a major incentive to drive attentively.”
Juno News contacted Calgary lawyer Tyler van Vliet about the new legislation, who pointed out how the study was authored by Shad Chapman, Cassandra Paterson and Jessica Liu, all of whom work for Brownlee Law Firm a legal group which specializes in insurance defence.
In other words, even the lawyers hired by insurance companies acknowledge that the Care-first legislation “strips people of their rights.”
“By eliminating most rights of action and replacing them with capped administrative benefits, No Fault transfers the financial consequences of negligent driving from the wrongdoer to the injured victim and abandons the principle of restoring an injured person to the financial position they would have occupied but for the negligence of another,” van Vliet told Juno News.
“The system is predicated on the assumption that multi-billion-dollar for-profit insurance companies will consistently act in the best interests of injured victims rather than their own financial bottom line, even though these companies retain total authority to terminate benefits with virtually no practical recourse for victims who have their benefits cut off or reduced unfairly.”
The study noted that the care-first system will “substantially broaden the scope of responsibilities held by insurers regarding the handling of benefits claims” and that they will be obligated to “handle these claims in good faith.”
van Vliet argued that in effect, the legislation presents a model that “prioritizes cost certainty for insurers over full and fair compensation for injured Albertans.”
“At a fundamental level, this shift is unjust. A system that removes meaningful accountability for negligent drivers while limiting the compensation available to the people they injure undermines the basic principle that those who cause harm should bear responsibility for it,” he said.
“Placing that burden instead on innocent victims is neither fair nor consistent with the core values underlying Alberta’s justice system. It is precisely for this reason that the government needs to scrap this approach and go back to the drawing board.”