Yorkton This Week.



By Kristen Groeneveld

Staff Writer

The auto insurance options being offered by Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) are not sitting well with the Coalition Against No Fault Insurance. In fact the coalition is worried the choices offered to Saskatchewan residents could be quite dangerous.

"It's one big ball of confusion," said coalition spokesperson Lorie Terry of Regina. "The government is tooting it as our Premier Option, but it's not."

The Premier Option of auto insurance was put together by the Coalition Against No Fault Insurance in response to the current No Fault Insurance, introduced by the government in 1995. No Fault Insurance replaced Tort Insurance which was the only insurance available in Saskatchewan from the 1940s to 1995. Terry explains the Premier Option as being the best of both Tort and No Fault coverage.

"The government really likes No Fault so we wanted to compromise," said Terry referring to how the Premier Option was composed. "What they have done is taken apart our plan slowly and surely. They (government officials) met with us for exactly one hour and they knew perfectly well when we got out of that meeting that we didn't want them using our name (Premier Option), but they are choosing to do it anyway."

No other province in Canada offers a choice between No Fault and Tort coverage. Currently all provinces except for Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Quebec have Tort coverage. Those remaining three provinces all exist under the No Fault plan. While there are no options currently available in any province in Canada, Terry said the options are offered in three American states, "and it's been quite disastrous."

SGI has used a number of ideas from the Premier Option program over the recent years, "and we are happy that they are using our ideas, but they seem to have taken them and basically castrated them," she said. Terry offered SGI's newly established point system for discounted plate insurance as an example.

"With the point system, our idea was to start neutral, not look back on the last seven years," she said.

Terry said SGI is leaving too many questions unanswered and is not providing enough specifics while offering the insurance options.

"Like what if a whole bunch of people are in the car with different coverage? How do you allocate the money? Those costs cannot be fairly allocated," she said.

"We had Tort and it was almost exactly the same as the Tort coverage they are offering now. Back then (prior to 1995) you never heard anyone saying 'We want No Fault. We want No Fault'.

"Enough people wanted No Fault taken out that they (the government) had to do something, but they have really done a number on the people of Saskatchewan."

An information booklet provided by SGI compares the Tort and No Fault coverages offered to Saskatchewan residents. Terry said throughout the booklet, subtly used wording makes No Fault the more attractive insurance.

One of the critical points stressed by the Coalition Against No Fault Insurance is the ability for the victim to control his or her own rehabilitation. Under No Fault Insurance, "Medical professionals will work with your doctor or practitioner to develop a plan for your rehabilitation," reads an excerpt from SGI's Guide to Choosing Personal Auto Injury Insurance. "The plan will be designed to help you recover from your injuries as fully and quickly as possible, so if you don't follow it, your recovery may be affected. If you don't participate in your rehabilitation plan, SGI may not pay your benefits."

"We (the Coalition Against No Fault Insurance) are a group of accident victims who have been treated atrociously under the No Fault system," said Terry. "We went from a support group to a lobby group and we know first hand what No Fault does."

Terry said the differences basically come down to who has control. She said with Tort Insurance, the accident victim and the victim's physician control necessary rehabilitation. With No Fault Insurance, SGI is in control of the victim's rehabilitation.

"I've been through their rehab and I almost lost my baby twice," said Terry, referring to a pregnancy scare and another episode after the birth of her daughter. "The time has come that insurance companies found out they can't control everything."