如果保险公司cover某个municipality居民的消防车费用,那么这个municipality的council可以选择消防车出车收费,如果免费的话这个地方的地税就间接补贴了保险公司。出车产生的费用,当事人可以先付bill再找保险报销。
收费的法律依据是该municipality通过的Cost Recovery By-law
大部分municipalities都有这种收费的bylaw,少数地区没有,大多地区好像有三四个市镇没有该种收费。
谢谢你的解答!
我因为不太关心这些事, 所以不太有去研究。对你的回答我找到了答案和补充( 安省交通厅的):
Why was I billed for an emergency response I didn’t ask for?
I was on QEW Niagara (Town of Lincoln) when my hood flew open, impacting the windshield. I calmly pulled over and called CAA. There was no collision.
To my surprise, an ambulance, two fire trucks and police then arrived. I didn’t call 911, so apparently a passing motorist did. MTO invoiced me $922.50 for fire department response that I neither requested nor required.
From my observation, the fire department did little on scene. I’ve yet to make any insurance claim and feel this invoice is unfair.
Ontario Transportation Ministry spokesperson Bob Nichols replies:
Since the 1970s, an arrangement has been in place with the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs whereby MTO pays municipal fire departments for responding to incidents on provincial highways.
The ministry then recovers costs from the responsible motorist.
Fire departments are compensated for responding, regardless of whether emergency services were provided. Fire departments may opt out of the agreement and instead invoice vehicle owners/insurance companies directly.
Decisions about liability are based on police and fire department reports. The Ministry’s authority to invoice for such claims is under the Highway Traffic Act.
The vehicle owner has the option of discussing the liability with his/her insurance company. If the owner disputes the bill, they can provide their facts to the ministry to consider, in addition to police and fire deptartment reports.
The policy is applied fairly to all incidents in Ontario. Upon receipt of a 911 call, fire departments are obligated to respond. There is a standard $410 per hour per vehicle call-out charge for fire service calls to incidents on provincial highways.
Steve Kee of the Insurance Bureau of Canada forwarded this response from their Consumer Information Centre staff:
“I can tell you from experience that these bylaws are enforceable. I tried the argument that fire departments operating expenses are paid for by my taxes but to no avail. If there is an auto insurance claim covered by an insured peril, then paragraph 7.4.1 says that the fire department charges are included in the settlement. Similarly, if there is a claim on a property policy, then fire department charges are covered up to a specified limit. In your reader’s case, if the driver were to submit a claim, the fire department charges would be covered by his auto insurance policy.”
As for local streets, Steve Johnston, spokesperson for the City of Toronto adds:
Our transportation department takes all steps available to recoup the costs associated with responding to collisions on the city of Toronto road network.
Eric Lai adds:
For the record, Toronto and Ottawa have opted in for MTO billing for services performed on provincial highways.
Greg Hudson, Lincoln Township fire chief, advises that two fire trucks were sent as per workplace safety regulations. Minimum charge is one hour per vehicle.
Apparently, insurers are routinely invoiced by municipalities and MTO for fire services response. In this instance, since no insurance claim was made, the driver was invoiced directly.
以上重点是: 安省公路高速路上出事, 肇事人的保险公司出钱付费, 或没有报保险的出事人直接付费, 无论当时他有没有报警还是别人报的警。
红字部分:
出事人有权去争论付费,即跟自己的保险公司一起向交通厅和警察,消防部门提出考虑事实依据以减少付费。
每辆消防车费用是1小时410刀。
多伦多市内街道的事故, 全由市府出钱付消防车和警车费用。
即出事人不付费,居民大楼或其他的火警不在此例需另付费(比如 500--2000刀)。
这就是我说的当年在街道上被追尾, 就算肇事者也不用付费。