Legislation sets timetable for UV project

Among the changes included in last week’s introduction of Bill 198 in the Ontario legislature is a countdown for the industry’s Uninsured Vehicles project.Through changes to the province’s Compulsory Automobile Insurance and Highway Traffic acts which stand to be passed by December 12, 2002, a twelve-month countdown for implementing the UV project has begun.In a bulletin released after the bill’s introduction, the Insurance Bureau of Canada says, “Automatic checking of mandatory insurance by the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) will commence approximately twelve months following the passage of the legislation.” Critical Coverage Reporting (CCR) by the insurance industry will commence with the introduction of regulations supporting the legislation.The IBC will be involved in discussions with government and others as regulations are developed.The UV project involves the industry maintaining a database of vehicle identification numbers (VIN) and confirmation of mandatory auto insurance coverage, with the MTO verifying this information on license plate renewals. Brokers, agents and insurers will all be responsible for maintaining the CCR database.The IBC has been beta-testing CCR over the past year, making changes based on user feedback, and will release a user guide when the project is launched.On the subject of VIN reporting, the IBC says, “Today, the industry’s VIN accuracy is over 99% for the vehicle categories involved when the project starts and the match rate to MTO is over 97%. Although individual challenges will continue to present themselves, the combined accuracy target of 99% is within reach.”