Is Your Pink Slip in the Glove Compartment?

Published February 6, 2018 at 1:39 am

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Drivers in Ontario are done with carrying their insurance ‘pink slip’ in the glove box.

So says a new poll released by the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) on Monday.

Seventy-four per cent of people surveyed want an electronic option for insurance documents.

“Ontario drivers are very supportive of digital documents,” said IBC Ontario vice-president Kim Donaldson.

“We use our mobile devices to get on airplanes and buy our coffees. Why can’t we use them to display our proof of insurance?”

Under Ontario law, drivers must carry their proof of auto insurance or ‘pink slip,’ which is valid only in paper format.

Nova Scotia recently announced it would become the first Canadian province to allow drivers to carry digital proof of insurance.

Currently, 46 U.S. states allow for digital proof of auto insurance, according to IBC.

IBC’s January 2018 poll was conducted market research firm Leger.

Here are the highlights:

  • 78 per cent of Ontarians feel that receiving their insurance documents electronically would be convenient.
  • 88 per cent of Ontarians receive at least one bill electronically (e.g. phone bill, bank statement).
  • 79 per cent of Ontarians believe that insurance information available online is as safe as paper-based communications.
  • 74 per cent of Ontarians want the option of receiving their insurance documents (proof of insurance card, insurance renewals) electronically.

The survey results were featured in a report by IBC entitled An Innovation Agenda for Ontario’s Insurance Industry.

It outlines a variety of steps the provincial government can take to make auto insurance more convenient for more Ontario drivers.  

“The speed of technological change has outstripped the pace of policy and regulatory change,” said Donaldson.

“Ontario’s property and casualty insurers are looking for the provincial government’s commitment to modernize insurance laws to put customers’ needs first and meet their evolving online financial needs.”

The matter of modernizing pink slips was included in the spring 2017 budget.

What do you think of the survey’s results?

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