Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI)’s government auto insurer is seeking to increase auto insurance rates by an average of 1.8% for the 2014-15 insurance year, the first time in a decade that MPI has sought a rate increase.
“For 14 of the last 15 years, the corporation has either held the line or reduced rates,” said Marilyn McLaren, president and CEO of Manitoba Public Insurance. “This has resulted in a cumulative, total rate decrease of 17.8% for Autopac ratepayers.
“A moderate increase in claims experience combined with lower than expected investment income has resulted in a slight increase in Autopac rates for 2014-15.”
Brokers in the province are staying mum about the increase, for the most part. Some say it comes at a time when the public insurer is squeezing its broker force to do more for less, in an effort to help reduce costs.
“I don’t know what to make of it,” Basil Galarnyk of Galarnyk Insurance Agency Ltd. said of the proposed increase. “They have been downloading a lot of work on the brokers – drivers’ tests and road tests – giving us more work. And they have been clawing back commissions.”
Like other brokers, Galarnyk says it is ultimately up to the utilities board to determine whether the government insurer’s proposed rate increase is justified. If brokers’ clients have an issue with the increase, the utilities board is the proper forum to air their views, he said.
If MPI’s application is approved, a total of 707,090 vehicles owners will receive a premium increase. Of the vehicles that will receive premium increases, most will be less than $50. A total of 342,319 vehicle owners will receive a premium decrease or stay the same in 2014.
The average passenger vehicle premium will be $898.
For motorcycles (excluding mopeds and small-engine displacement motor scooters), the corporation has applied for an average rate decrease of 7.6% or $83 per vehicle. If approved, the average motorcycle rate will decrease to $1,001 from $1,084.
