Alberta No Fault Auto Insurance is “Care First” in name only. For decades, Alberta has operated under a system that balances automobile insurance coverage with a fundamental right: if a careless driver injures you, you have the right to hold them accountable. This system, known as a “tort” system, ensures that the person who caused the accident—and their insurance company—pays for the damage they caused.
However, the Alberta government is currently moving toward a new model they call “Care First.” Don’t let the friendly name fool you. “Care First” is a marketing ploy designed to camouflage a no-fault insurance system that benefits insurance companies while also robbing injury victims of the legal protection embodied in the right to sue an at-fault driver.
Consumer advocates, legal experts, and media investigations agree that in addition to losing your right to sue a negligent driver, Alberta No Fault Insurance leaves you on your own to deal with your own insurance company. “Care First” gifts insurance companies with immense power over your recovery and your financial future.
Groups like FAIR Alberta and Albertans Against No-Fault Insurance have raised the alarm. They warn that this shift gives insurance companies all the power and will leave innocent victims with a fraction of the compensation they deserve.
The End of Accountability
One of the biggest problems identified with Care First is the complete loss of accountability.
In our current system, if a drunk or distracted driver hits you, they are held responsible. You can sue them for the pain, suffering, and financial loss they have caused. The right to sue acts as a deterrent and a matter of basic justice.
Under Alberta No Fault Auto Insurance, that accountability vanishes. It no longer matters who caused the accident. As noted by legal experts, this means good drivers effectively subsidize bad drivers. The reckless individual who caused your life-altering injury faces no civil consequences, and you lose your right to seek justice in a court of law.
Perhaps the most dangerous change identified by injury lawyers and consumer protection groups is the shift in power dynamics. Currently, if an insurance company denies your claim or offers you too little, you have the right to hire an injury lawyer and take them to court. An impartial judge—someone with no financial stake in the outcome—decides what is fair.
Under no-fault insurance, the courts are removed from the equation. The insurance company becomes the judge, jury, and executioner of your claim.
- No Neutral Umpire: The insurer decides what treatments you need and when you are “recovered.”
- Profit Motivation: Insurance companies are for-profit businesses. Every dollar they deny you in benefits is a dollar of profit for them.
- Bureaucratic Walls: If you disagree with their decision, your only recourse is typically an internal bureaucratic appeal board, not a public court. The decision-making body is called the Alberta Automobile Care-First Tribunal.
What Is the Alberta Automobile Care First Tribunal?
Most people are familiar with the idea of a tribunal. During the French Revolution, a tribunal judged those accused of political crimes (think guillotine). After WWII, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg judged war criminals. If the idea of going before a tribunal is starting to make you feel squeamish, there is good reason.
Legislation: The Alberta Government established the Alberta Automobile Care First Tribunal under the Automobile Insurance Act (Bill 47).
Powers of Tribunal:
- Hearing appeals from claimants who disagree with their insurer’s decision regarding medical care, income replacement, or other benefits.
- Confirming, varying, or reversing an insurer’s decision.
- Serving as the final decision-maker.
Funding: 100% funded by private insurance companies
Operational Rules: The dispute resolution process is designed to be streamlined and occur outside of the courts:
- Internal Review: Before accessing the Tribunal, a claimant must first request an “internal review” from their own insurance company. The insurer will then issue a second decision with written reasons.
- Appeal to Tribunal: If the claimant is still dissatisfied, they may file an appeal with the Care-First Tribunal.
- Procedure: The Tribunal is not bound by the formal rules of evidence that apply in court. It has the power to:
- Conduct inquiries.
- Request new medical information or expert assessments.
- Attempt mediation to settle the dispute.
- Fees: The government has indicated it is considering whether applicants must pay a fee to file an appeal.
- Decisions: The Automobile Insurance Act (Bill 47) sets out the narrow grounds under which a Tribunal decision might be appealed.
“89(1) Subject to subsection (2), a decision or order of the Tribunal on an appeal is final and conclusive and is not open to question or review in any court.
(2) A decision or order of the Tribunal may be reviewed by way of an application for judicial review if the application is filed with the Court and served on the Tribunal no later than 30 days after the date of the decision.”
Essentially, Tribunal decisions are final and conclusive and cannot be appealed to a court of law, except through a “judicial review” on limited technical grounds (e.g., procedural unfairness).
As legal analysts have pointed out regarding current accident benefits, insurers already try to limit payouts and rush people back to work. Giving them total control over the entire claim removes the only safety net victims have: the threat of a lawsuit.
The fox truly is being put in charge of the henhouse. Unfortunately, anyone in Alberta, who is injured in a car accident becomes a hen at the mercy of the insurance company and its Tribunal.
Compensation by Algorithm: You Are Just a Number
In a proper legal claim, compensation is individualized. A broken ankle or a back injury means something different depending on your occupation and family responsibilities.That isn’t the case under Care First.
Large insurance companies use algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) to process claims and help determine payout amounts. Insurance companies, of course, know that smaller payouts mean larger profits. Injury victims rely on injury lawyers, like myself, to level the playing field, so that the receive fair compensation. The difference in the actual compensation that the injury victim receives can be startling. Of course, under Care First No Fault Insurance, injury victims are left on their own. If they think a settlement offer is low, they can appeal to the insurance company, and they may even get to go before the Tribunal, which will decide their fate.
Like the insurance company, the Alberta government’s algorithm created a table that determines the value of an injury. Consumer advocacy groups like FAIR Alberta warn that no-fault systems replace this individualized justice with “meat charts.”
In a no-fault system, your injury is looked up in a table.
- Lose a leg? The book says that is worth $X.
- Spinal injury that means you can no longer hold your grandchild? The book doesn’t care.
- Chronic pain that prevents you from sleeping? If it’s not in the table, it doesn’t count.
Compensation by algorithm ignores the reality of human suffering. It treats injury victims like damaged bits and pieces rather than human beings whose lives have been turned upside down in an accident they didn’t cause.
Alberta No Fault Auto Insurance: The Savings Myth
The Government of Alberta and insurance lobby have tried to sell this change with the promise of lower premiums—specifically floating a figure of around $400 in savings. However, investigations by CBC and CTV News have cast serious doubt on these numbers.
In other jurisdictions, the promised savings from no-fault schemes have been a mirage:
- Short-Lived Relief: Premiums may drop slightly at first, but they typically creep back up within a few years. In fact, the Alberta Government has already backtracked on its promise of savings of $400 in premiums.
- Paying Twice: Because no-fault benefits are capped, injury victims often have to rely on private disability insurance or government social assistance to survive. You save a few dollars on car insurance but pay more in taxes or private health costs. That’s the kind of solution that is only good for those who can afford private imnsurance—and insurance companies.
- The “Care First” Reality: As noted in reports covering the government’s proposal, the cost of “Care First” is likely to explode as administrative costs rise, just as they have in British Columbia’s massive bureaucratic system (ICBC). As insurance companies’ administrative costs increase, the costs will be passed on to Albertans through higher premiums.
Trading your permanent legal rights for a temporary, theoretical decrease in monthly premiums is a bad deal for Albertans. No wonder Albertans Don’t Want No-Fault Insurance.
Conclusion
“Care First” will strip Albertans of their right to sue, remove accountability for bad drivers, and empower insurers to decide what your injury is worth based on numbers in a table rather than your actual life. Promises of lower premiums and system efficiencies are illusions. Alberta’s legal experts and consumer advocates are united in this message: Care First sacrifices justice for the benefit of insurance companies.
If you are concerned about losing your rights, the time to act is now.
- Talk with your friends and neighbours and let them know how you feel.
- Phone or email your local MLA and tell them you are against no-fault insurance.
- Phone or email the Premier.
- Sign the Albertans against No-Fault Insurance petition on Change.org
- On Facebook, follow FAIR Alberta, a coalition of concerned consumers, medical professionals, lawyers, and other Albertans that is opposed to Alberta’s move to no-fault insurance.
- You may want to consider a donation to the Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers Association or AANFI to assist in this fight.
Let the Alberta Government know you refuse to let insurance companies have all the power.
Sources
- Government of Alberta
- FAIR Alberta (“Care First” and “Meat Charts”):
- Albertans Against No-Fault Insurance (Accountability):
- CBC News (Savings Myth & Investigations):
- CTV News (General Concerns):
- Court access & dispute resolution in Alberta’s Care First system – Canadian Underwriter, Automobile Insurance Act (Bill 47)
- CASE STUDY: How Care-First insurance will impact Albertans’ right to sue
