The Care-first auto insurance system is still looming over the heads of Albertans — as January 1, 2027, the day of its implementation, draws closer by the day.One specific issue that's prudent to discuss is how Albertans will carry out dispute resolutions under the system if they wish to sue an at-fault driver.As Heather Mack, Manager of Education and Engagement at the Alberta Automobile Insurance Rate Board (AIRB), explained to the Western Standard in a previous interview after getting into an accident, "The law says that the insurer must pay out to the point where you have reached full medical benefit.""So that will be up to medical professionals.".WATCH: Alberta's automobile insurance regulator weighs in on care first system."If the insurer then is in disagreement with the medical professional or your own opinion — because you know your body best, you'll be able to take that to a dispute resolution system that will happen within the government.""So it won't be the insurers, it'll be a dispute resolution that's still to be set up in regulation," Mack stated.Under the system, Albertans will still have the right to sue, but that right will be severely limited. According to Tyler van Vliet, personal injury lawyer at Crash Lawyers, he said: “Right now, you can sue at-fault drivers for the damages your accident injuries have caused in your life, and their insurance companies are responsible for providing you with adequate financial compensation."."Under Care-First, you won’t have that option.""Instead, you cannot sue for financial compensation at all, and your own insurance company will choose how much treatment you get, and how long you get it for," Vliet said. Where the danger truly lies, Vliet points out:"The same insurance companies that will be deciding your care have a financial incentive to cut treatment as early as possible.""If you disagree with their decisions, you’ll be forced into a new tribunal process that doesn’t follow normal court rules, doesn’t award legal costs even when the insurer is clearly wrong, and whose decisions can’t be reviewed by a judge.".But, how then would it be certain this tribunal will be disadvantageous for the average Albertan?Because Canada has already seen this before, a sort of déjà vu in none other than BC."We’ve seen this play out in British Columbia’s version of care first. When accident victims challenge their insurance company’s decision to prematurely cut off their treatment, insurers win more than 90% of cases," Vliet explained."Injured Albertans will be left to face billion-dollar insurance companies and their endless resources on their own, without legal representation, and without the safeguards of the court system.".There have yet to be any numbers released — but "Building up an entirely new tribunal system will likely cost hundreds of millions – if not billions – of taxpayer dollars when we have a perfectly good court system already in place," Vliet notes.The province says it will announce the regulation for the care first system in fall 2025.
