AMA insurance still available to some

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Disbelief and then outrage erupted in Hobbema, Alta., when motorists insured with the Alberta Motor Association received letters indicating the association was refusing to renew their coverage.

The letter stated that residents who lived in the postal code area of TOC1NO would be affected.

Hobemma, which is located 175 km from Edmonton, is home to more than 13,000 Aboriginal people. Members of the Samson, Ermineskin, Louis Bull and Montana bands were all affected.

The motor association based its decision to omit the area in its insurance coverage on Hobbema's poor driving records and its high number of accident claims. The company said that residents on the reserve were claiming on too many accidents. Statistics released in 1990 indicated that Hobbema was considered a high-risk area as far as accidents went.

"These figures are nearly 10 years old. Things may have changed since then," said Mel Buffalo, president of the Indian Association of Alberta. "We wanted to get a copy of the form of the statistics they were using, but the Alberta Motor Association did not release it to us," he said.

At first even good drivers who had clean driving records were told that they would have to look for alternative insurance coverage. Hobbema residents felt that the Alberta Motor Association was discriminating against them. They insisted that not everyone should have to pay for others' mistakes. Residents claimed that older drivers should not have to be punished because of reckless young drivers who were driving while impaired or had bad driving records.

After the Alberta Motor Association met on Oct. 14, the company changed its decision and decided to reinsure people holding policies with the organization who had clean driving records. No new policies would be accepted from the Hobbema area.

"Our decision to look at Hobbema on a geographic basis was not fair. More than half of the members from Hobbema had clean driving records, so we decided not to penalize people with clean driving records," said Alberta Motor Association spokesperson, Dan VanKeekan. "We are not saying people cannot have a single accident, but our concern was about the multiple accident claims that were coming out of the community," he said.

The insurance company's definition of a bad driver was one who had three or more impaired driving convictions, or one or more convictions for driving while suspended.

However, the community is still not satisfied with the Alberta Motor Association's decision to not accept new members.

The four nations' chiefs are concerned about the negative way Hobbema has been depicted. They believe the Alberta Motor Association's statements against the reserve may be detrimental to members trying to obtain vehicle insurance from other agencies.

"If each automobile insurance policy is bought by individual drivers, then why is the entire Cree community being penalized," asked Chief Darrell Strongman of the Montana First Nation.

The four nations of Hobbema are planning to file a human rights complaint with both the Alberta Human Rights Commission and the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

The Alberta Motor Association is the largest motor association in the province. They insure up to half a million drivers in Alberta.