IBC calls on lawyers to not appeal cap decision

Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) has removed its call to the Automobile Insurance Rate Board for a 40.2% increase in auto premiums in light of the recent Court of Appeal of Alberta decision upholding the province’s minor injury cap.IBC has also put out a call asking trial lawyers to not appeal the decision. “Now, the ongoing affordability of auto insurance in Alberta is largely in the hands of personal injury lawyers as they deliberate on whether to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court of Canada — a process that would take years,” said Jim Rivait, IBC’s vice president of Alberta and the North. On June 12, the Court of Appeal in Alberta released its decision on Morrow v. Zhang, unanimously confirming the validity of the province’s Cdn$4,504 cap on pain and suffering awards for minor, non-permanent injuries. The 2004 legislation that implemented the cap also raised the limit for no-fault medical rehabilitation services from $10,000 to $50,000 and brought in diagnostic and treatment protocols for sprain and strain injuries, the IBC release notes. “The legislation, as a whole, responds to the needs and circumstances of those suffering minor soft tissue injuries,” the Court said. “The nature of the interest affected here is not of fundamental, societal or constitutional importance.”