Ontarians pay too much for car insurance, report finds + MORE Apr 13th

Ontario consumers may have overpaid for auto insurance by $3 billion to $4 billion between 2001 and 2013, according to a study done for the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association.

A new report from the York University Schulich School of Business suggests drivers in Ontario “pay far too much” for car insurance.
Business professors Fred Lazar and Eli Prisman are set to release the report on Friday, which was commissioned by the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association.
Although drivers are aware of the high cost of insurance, the numbers in the report are staggering. According to the report, “in 2013 alone, consumers likely overpaid by $840 million.”
The professors are calling on the auditor-general to review the system.
In 2014, the Liberal government passed legislation aimed at reducing car insurance premiums by 15 per cent on average by August of this year.
At the time, the government said the new bill, the Fighting Fraud and Reducing Automobile Insurance Rates Act, will help reduce costs and uncertainty in the auto insurance industry and protect more than nine million licensed provincial drivers as well as fight fraud.

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MONTREAL – Procrastination and ignorance about tax rules can be a costly combination as the Canadian tax filing deadline approaches, tax experts say.
Canadians run the risk of facing hefty penalties or missing out on thousands of dollars worth of tax credits if they wait until the last minute to complete tax forms, says Caroline Battista, senior tax analyst at H&R Block Canada.
“People don’t have the paperwork ready when they leave it to the last second,” she said in an interview from Vancouver.
That could result in missing out on disability credits that require a form be completed by a physician, or childcare deductions that must include the social insurance number and address of the caregiver.
Failing to gather official receipts also opens the door to penalties if federal child fitness credits are overestimated.
But the biggest danger of leaving the calculations until just before April 30 is that income will be omitted entirely, Battista said.
Forgetting to include a T-slip opens the taxpayer to federal and provincial penalties totalling 20 per cent, plus interest…

RateSupermarket.ca Calls for Seasonal Mortgage Discounts to Last Through April
Spring is typically the most competitive time for mortgage-rate pricing, and this season has been no exception, as a number of lenders introduced record-low pricing during the month of March. Now, April buyers and renewing borrowers have much to smile about, as RateSupermarket.ca’s expert panel calls for continued access to such deals throughout the warmer months.
Fixed Mortgage Rates: Unchanged
Demand for government of Canada bonds have set the stage for low fixed-rate pricing; current geo-political forces have kept yields under the one per cent barrier for months, with no change anticipated in the short term. As a result, our panelists call for continued low-rate pricing as lenders compete for spring market share.
 Variable Mortgage Rates: Unchanged
All eyes are on the Bank of Canada’s April 15th rate announcement, especially as sliding oil prices spell bleak news for several economic sectors. However, it’s unlikely that the BoC will make another move to cut rates at this time; policy makers are likely waiting to see how the effects of oil are realized before employing further “insurance” measures…