Association President Jamie Cuming stated that the latest request for a premium hike is a "standard tactic the insurance industry has used in Alberta before - create a crisis over insurance rates and then try to get governments to solve it."

He said the bottom line is that the winners in such a crisis are always insurance company profits, and not consumers or victims.

The Association said its submission to the rate board hearings – which are to be held later this month, show that the insurance industry still earns profits of 20 percent or more.

Further, the Association says the rate board's own actuaries report a sharp decline of 11.5 percent in the number of auto insurance collision claims in Alberta in 2008.

On February 8th, 2008, the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench struck down the Minor Injury Regulation which imposed a cap of $4,000 on non-pecuniary damages suffered in 'minor' injuries. That decision was appealed and argued before a 3-member panel of the Alberta Court of Appeal on September 12th, 2008.