Alberta Auto Insurance 2025 Update:
WHAT IS HAPPENING?
- In November 2024 the Alberta government announced plans to change the province’s current auto insurance system to a new “Care First” No-Fault model to be administered by private insurers.
- No-fault insurance means that if you are hurt or your vehicle is damaged in an accident, your insurance company pays for your losses, regardless of who caused the accident. If you are a victim in an accident caused by a careless driver, you cannot sue them for damages. Whatever an insurance company says, goes. They don’t have to listen to you, your doctor, or even the courts.
- The new system is scheduled to go into effect in January 2027.
- Between now and January 2027 the government has authorized insurance companies to continue increasing their rates by up to 7.5% per year for good drivers.
- In January 2025 Alberta’s Superintendent of Insurance revealed that Auto Insurers have been repeatedly over-charging Alberta consumers between 2022-2024. The Superintendent has levied fines totalling more than $3.1 million against 21 different insurance companies for these infractions, and yet, these same insurance companies will be handed even more responsibility and power under the proposed new system, with reduced ability for consumers to take insurance companies to court if those insurers act improperly.
- There are currently no other privately administered No-Fault auto insurance systems in place anywhere else in Canada, meaning this new system is untested and unproven. Insurance companies are being tasked with new responsibilities they aren’t designed to manage and haven’t been trained for.
- Once the new system is in place, access to the courts for auto injury victims to seek fair compensation or to hold unreasonable insurance companies to account will be severely restricted.
- No-fault systems tend to compensate bad, at-fault drivers for their own injuries more than our current system, essentially rewarding bad driving behaviour.
- No-Fault systems transfer costs away from insurance companies and onto individual families and the provincial healthcare and social assistance systems.
HOW CAN I HELP?
- At FAIR Alberta, we think there are ways to reform the insurance system that promote affordability for Albertans, accountability for insurance companies, and expand choices for consumers.
- The most effective way to influence government policy and decision-making on this issue is to contact your MLA and let them know that you are opposed to “Care-First” no-fault auto insurance, and that maintaining consumer choice and holding bad drivers accountable is important to you.
- Sharing news with your friends, family and colleagues about the risks and problems with “Care-First” No-Fault insurance also helps to educate other Albertans about this issue.
- Let’s work together to maintain accountability, ensure consumer choice, and promote real affordability for Albertan drivers. This is the way to keep our roads safe and auto insurance fair.