Sales Column: Will brokers speak up about Ontario auto reform risks?

Everyone involved in our industry shares a responsibility to help move it forward. We all play a part in innovating and modernizing products, processes and workflows to create better experiences and deliver greater value to consumers.

Although being open to new ideas and willing to embrace change is mission-critical, it’s equally important to speak up when a strategy seems unlikely to achieve the right outcomes or create real benefits.

It’s no secret auto insurance reform in Ontario is long overdue. However, the government’s changes to the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS), set to take effect Jul. 1, 2026, don’t solve the key concerns with auto insurance and could create a lot of problems for drivers.

The SABS changes will scale back accident benefits by converting all previously mandatory coverages into optional benefits, with the exception of medical, rehabilitation and attendant care.

This will give consumers more choice, but it also adds complexity to a product that many people already don’t fully understand. And their limited knowledge increases the chance that, when presented with a choice, they’ll choose wrong.

Data from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario show these changes won’t lower premiums for most drivers. This means any savings will come at the cost of drastically reduced coverage, and many won’t realize the trade-off they made until it’s too late.

To be honest, when I started learning more about these changes and saw that premiums would basically stay the same, I thought, ‘Who cares? This isn’t a big deal. Let’s just focus on figuring how to roll it out.’

But the longer I sat with it, the more I realized the potential negative effects, especially on lower-income people. They won’t decline critical coverages because they either don’t need them or have the financial means to self-insure. No, they’ll decline these coverages to cut costs.

But that choice will leave them even more vulnerable after an accident.

The changes will also hurt non-drivers. Optional benefits will only be available to the named insured, their spouse and dependents, and any drivers listed on the policy. Which means passengers, rideshare users, pedestrians and cyclists will have significantly less funding available to them unless they have their own auto insurance policies.

At its core, insurance is designed to be a social safety net that helps take care of people when they need it most. The SABS changes move us farther away from that intention.

Stripping away accident benefits is not modernizing auto insurance. It’s shifting risk from insurers to individuals without proper warning or public campaigns about how these changes could seriously affect people after an accident.

As brokers, it’s our job to advocate for clients and make sure they’re properly protected. If, like me, you believe these changes will cause problems, speak out. Contact your MPP. Use your social media and client communications to educate people about what less coverage will really mean for them.

Let’s use our voices and influence to drive changes that will actually benefit consumers and our industry.

Adam Mitchell is CEO of Mitch Insurance, a Whitby, Ont.-based insurance brokerage. This article is excerpted from one that appeared in the October-November print edition of Canadian Underwriter.