NB group recommends minor injury cap be raised to at least $4000
The New Brunswick automobile insurance working group that examined the cap on soft tissue injuries and the definition presented its report to Justice and Consumer Affairs Minister Marie-Claude Blais.
The eight-member working group was set up last fall in response to the provincial government’s commitment to review the current cap and definition applied to soft tissue injuries caused by vehicle accidents. Along with public hearings held last summer, the working group collected feedback online and held a series of meetings with stakeholders.
In its report, the group makes several recommendations. One is to amend the legal definition of “minor personal injury.” The definition currently is:
“Minor personal injury” means an injury that does not result in:
a) Permanent serious disfigurement
b) Permanent serious impairment of an important bodily function caused by a continuing injury which is physical in nature.
“Serious impairment” means an impairment that causes substantial interference with a person’s ability to perform his/her usual daily activities or regular employment.
The group recommends the current definition be discarded and replaced with:
A minor personal injury is a sprain or strain or whiplash-associated disorder, or a combination thereof, which results in minor consequences to a person’s life. “Minor consequences” means that neither the impairments nor the limitations resulting from the injury last more than six months and a person substantially retains his or her pre-accident bodily functions, level of activities and participation in life.
The working group said it also “vigorously debated” the amount of the injury cap – set at $2,500 in 2003 – and while the committee could not determine a final amount, it feels:
- The cap should be increased to between $4,000 and $6,000
- There should be annual indexing to CPI
“Based on all of the available information and the examples presented during the consultation process, the Working Group agreed that the current amount of the cap—$2,500—is too low,” the report says. “The Group looked at Nova Scotia which recently increased its cap to $7,500 and includes an indexing clause. However, Nova Scotia’s definition of minor personal injury differs from what we are recommending for New Brunswick, and there are other differences in the two provinces’ systems.”
“The Working Group found no other provincial system that would give helpful guidance in setting a new cap for New Brunswick. After in-depth discussion, it was agreed that the cap should fall within the reasonable range of $4,000 and $6,000, with the final figure set by government, guided by a closed-claim study and actuarial analysis. As noted earlier, the committee did not have access to either”.
The report adds that of those who made presentations to the Working Group during the public consultation process, slightly more than half recommended that the cap be increased and the definition improved. Slightly fewer than half of the presenters recommended the cap and definition be abolished. Of this group, a dozen suggested a deductible system be used in New Brunswick, as is used in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The full report can be read online. (PDF)
