British Columbia
- Bill 6
-Insurance
Amendment Act
2009 Introduced
On September
15, BC
introduced Bill
6 which is the
Insurance
Amendment Act
2009. There
are no
significant
amendments made
to the previous
Bill 40. Bill 6
can be found at
http://www.leg.bc.ca/39th1st/1st_read/gov06-1.htm
Highlights of
the legislation:
-
Consumers
will have a
30-day grace
period in
which to pay
overdue
premiums for
life and
health
insurance
contracts
and ensure
their
policies
remain in
force.
-
Consumers
will be
provided
with a
10-day
cooling-off
period in
which they
can rescind
a life or
health
insurance
contract.
-
Insurance
companies
will be
required to
put in place
internal
complaint
resolution
procedures
and offer
consumers
access to
ombudsman-type
services if
disputes
cannot be
resolved
internally.
-
The
limitation
period in
which
consumers
can make
legal claims
against
insurance
companies
will be
increased to
two years
from one.
-
The language
of the
Insurance
Act has been
strengthened
to ensure
that fire
coverage
includes
fires
resulting
from any
cause,
except those
that are
specifically
excluded by
regulation.
-
The
amendments
will protect
an “innocent
co-insured”
who may
otherwise be
denied
coverage due
to the
wrongdoing
of another
person.
