(NC)-Consumers in Ontario are paying less overall for their private passenger auto insurance than they were a year ago. Thanks to cost-saving measures arising from recent reforms to the auto insurance system, most insurance companies are passing on the savings to consumers in the form of lower premiums.

The combined decline in approved auto insurance rates for 2004 and the first three quarters of 2005 was 12.42 per cent.

The impact of a rate change on an individual consumer varies, depending on where the consumer lives, the type of vehicle he or she drives, and other risk characteristics such as collision record.

The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), an arm’s length agency of the provincial Ministry of Finance, regulates the auto insurance industry. FSCO ensures that the changes insurance companies make to their rates are reasonable, justified, and balanced with each company’s ability to meet its future claims costs.

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