Looking for fairness in insurance rates
Re Your postal code is a big factor in determining your car insurance rates. Critics say it shouldn’t be, March 10
I am glad the Star has chosen to call out the unfair practice of using statistics to set rates for automobile insurance. I would encourage you to expand your campaign to cover similar unfair practices in the life and health insurance markets.
Going south this year my travel insurance rate was 35 per cent higher than a fellow traveller, and even then they refused to cover any expenses related to my “pre-existing” conditions. Their argument was that, statistically, someone in my age bracket has a higher claim rate than my young friend’s cohort, and those claims are statistically much more expensive. As for my pre-existing conditions, the statistics were downright depressing. How unfair is that?
Even worse though, is the ridiculously higher premiums they want for life insurance, if someone in my position can even get coverage. The worst example of this occurred late last year, when my friend, who was only 68, was refused a $500,000 whole life policy. Having been told he had less than six months to live, it seemed prudent to secure his family’s lifestyle before passing. In its letter of refusal, the company stated that their statistics prove that people who have been given a diagnosis such as his tend to die early in the term of the policy, resulting in an unsustainable claim rate. Again a blatant use of statistics to determine risk.
So let’s move forward with this. I will write my MPP today demanding I pay the same amount of car insurance as everyone else in the province, regardless of risk differential, but, only on the condition you write your MPP demanding we all pay the same rate for life, and travel insurance. After all it’s only fair! Steve Gordon, Holland Landing, Ont. I’m 78 and am covered under Ontario Drug Benefit Senior Co-payment Program. Recently, I went to buy my medicines as prescribed by my nephrologist and cardiologist.
One of the medicines was Aspirin daily. The price of the medicine was $7.76. The pharmacist charged me a total of $18.25, including a dispensing fee of $10.49. This is very unfair, the dispensing fee being more than the cost of the medicine; and for a medicine that is being repeated from time to time.
Something needs to be done by the concerned authorities to check such extortion. My interest in the matter is obvious. Deepak Narain, Oakville