Car Accident Injury – Insurance Claims – Halifax Lawyer

Several organizations made submissions to the Superintendent of Insurance as part of the Nova Scotia government’s $2500 Minor Injury Cap Review process. I am attaching the Submission of the Atlantic Provinces Trial Lawyers Association (APTLA).

APTLA is a organization for trial lawyers who represent people who have legal claims. For the most part, it’s members do not represent insurance companies or other corporate defendants. Many of APTLA’s members (including myself) practice in the area of personal injury law. The organization is “dedicated to obtaining legal redress for those who have suffered injury or injustice, and to preserving the rights of the injured to full and fair compensation.”

In its submission, APTLA addresses each of the government’s discussion questions. On the issue of whether there should be a $2,500 Cap, APTLA argues that the cap was not necessary. In their paper, APTLA relies on the insurance industry’s own financial statements to show that insurers in Nova Scotia were not in a financial crisis in 2003,which was the year leading up to when the government brought in the $2,500 cap. Rather, APTLA says the financial records show the industry enjoyed record profits in 2003 and going forward.

On the issue of what should replace the $2500 Cap, APTLA discusses the merits of using of deductibles as an alternative to a $2500 cap. Deductibles for car accident injury claims are currently used in both Newfoundland and Ontario. APLTA’s position, however, is that no cap or deductible is necessary. They note that insurers had returned to high profit levels in 2003, without the assistance of a cap. The result of the cap was to allow the insurance industry to record record profits in 2003 onward.

For example, APTLA notes that during the trial over the $2,500 cap in Nova Scotia, the insurance industry’s own actuarial expert testified that between 2002-07 the industry had made $250million above the 10% return on equity benchmark set by Nova Scotia’s insurance industry regulator (i.e. Utility and Review Board). APTLA points to these profits as justification for why any changes to the $2500 cap should be made retroactive to cover people with existing claims.