Panel examining auto insurance contributions in Quebec concludes no changes needed, but issues 13 recommendations

A panel of experts on auto insurance contributions, whose mandate was to examine the insurance contributions proposed by the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) for 2016 2018, has concluded that no changes need to be made to the proposed insurance contributions, but issued 13 recommendations.

 “We believe that the insurance contributions proposed by the SAAQ are appropriate,” said Michel Sanschagrin, chair of the panel of experts and a fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, in a press release. The three-member panel of experts represented the actuarial, financial and insurance sectors.

The panel’s recommendations, released on Thursday, proposed measures aimed at managing funding of the Fonds d’assurance automobile du Québec “in a way that is prudent and responsible, refining the rating process and, more generally, ensuring that the insurance plan evolves in accordance with the needs of insured individuals,” the Council of Experts on Automobile Insurance Contributions said in the release.

“In the panel of experts’opinion, the SAAQ’s proposal is consistent with the overall rating parameters prescribed by the Act respecting the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec and the Automobile Insurance Act and attendant regulations, as well as the accepted actuarial practices in Canada relating to a public insurance corporation,” the council said. “It bears reminding that, in its discussion document entitled Proposed Insurance Contributions for 2016-2018 published in November 2014, the SAAQ proposed a decrease in insurance contributions for the majority of driver’s licence holders and vehicle owners.”

Among the 13 recommendations is that the SAAQ:

• take appropriate measures to ensure that all motorcycle licence holders who have not owned a motorcycle for a certain number of years have the skills required to operate a motorcycle safely if they decide to acquire a motorcycle;

• analyze, in cooperation with the Ministère des Transports du Québec, the appropriateness of facilitating, in the short term, the creation of a lead agency dedicated to motorcycle safety;

• analyze, before the next amendments to insurance contributions, the method of reallocation of motorcyclists’ insurance contributions between the driver’s licences and registration, while basing the reallocation on objective risk criteria;

• review, in the short term, the conditions applicable to restricted area use motorcycles in order to better meet the expectations of vintage motorcycle collectors; and

• proceed with its pilot project to assess the potential impact of telematics on the road safety record and, if results are conclusive, to invite the population to a public consultation on the use of telematics for rating purposes.