Time to tackle cost of auto insurance: Horwath
Staff Report
It’s time to tackle the skyrocketing cost of auto insurance, says NDP leader Andrea Horwath.
The NDP leader, along with the party’s consumer services critic, Jagmeet Singh, Thursday evening speaking to a town hall meeting at Emery Collegiate Institute in York-West Toronto on the rising cost of auto insurance.
More than 200 community members attended the meeting and provided their own stories on their struggles with high insurances rates and how it impacted their families.
“It’s not right that Ontario drivers are paying the highest auto insurance premiums in Canada. It’s time to tackle the growing cost of auto insurance,” said Horwath.
Singh has proposed a private member’s bill that would ban insurer’s practice of discriminating by neighbourhood. He proposed that premiums should be set by a person’s driving record and not by his/her neighborhood.
“Good drivers in this community are being charged double what drivers a short drive away pay. Insurance rates should be based on driving records, not neighborhood. We need change that puts everyday drivers first,” said Singh.
According to a recent Auditor General report, Ontario premiums — which average just over $1,400 per vehicle — are as much as 75 per cent higher than other provinces.
