Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) has been seeing a surge in hail-related damage claims, making 2023 one of the worst years on record for such incidents.

 The Crown corporation said it has received over 11,600 hail damage claims this year, with a third of the total coming from a severe storm in late August.

 MPI faces this record number of hail claims after its unionized employees voted to strike last month. 

 To streamline the claims process and assist affected policyholders, MPI said it will dedicate one of its Winnipeg locations for scheduled hail estimate appointments. 

 Customers who had their hail estimate appointments cancelled due to the strike will be contacted by the insurer and allowed to rebook, according to a report by CTV News. 

 MPI has previously laid out its plans to minimise service disruptions as 1,700 employees remain on strike. Its contingency plans include having its broker partners handle general enquiries and service transactions, including driver's licence and insurance renewals.

The corporation’s contact centre has also remained open for reporting new personal injury claims, collision claims involving non-drivable vehicles, and total thefts, while customers reporting all other passenger vehicle claims can do so by filling out the new online claim form. 

 MPI additionally stated that services such as income replacement payments for personal injury claimants will continue uninterrupted. 

Furthermore, MPI will resume its Class 5 driving test services, with cancelled appointments set to be rescheduled. 

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