Ontario car insurance injury benefits poised to change

If you get injured in a car accident in Ontario after June 1, the amount of medical costs that your insurance company willcover may bea lot lowerthan before.

The provincial government is mandating changes to the standard auto insurance policies that will drive down the limits on medical, rehabilitation and attendant care coverage.

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"Starting June 1, 2016, to help make insurance premiums more affordable, the benefits andcoveragesyou receive in a standard auto insurance policy are changing," says the provincial insurance regulator, theFinancial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO)on itswebsite.

Insurance companies are now informing policy holders of the upcoming changes through the mail

For most injuries, the combined limit of $86,000 for medical, rehabilitation and attendant care is dropping to $65,000. For injuries defined as "catastrophic," the $2 million combinedlimit for medical, rehabilitation and attendant care is droppingto $1 million.

For new policies purchased after June 1, the coverage changes will kick in right away. For existingpolicies, the new limits will apply once thepolicyrenews following June 1.

Drivers can purchase additional coveragefor higher premiums.

Other measures that take effect June 1 include:

• Insurers can no longer use a minor at-fault accident as a reason to increase a driver'spremiums.
• The standard deductible for comprehensive coverage increases to $500 (from $300).
• The maximum interest rate that insurers can charge for making monthly payments on a one-year policy drops to 1.3% (from 3%).