MPI requests no overall rate increase for 2013-2014 insurance year

Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) has submitted its general rate application for the 2013-2014 insurance year with the province’s Public Utilities Board (PUB). The application requests no overall rate increase. Pending approval of the application, MPI says nearly 25,000 passenger vehicles in northern Manitoba will experience a reduction in Basic Autopac premium. The application also requests rate decreases for a total of 8,205 motorcycles in the province.

“Our record is unmatched anywhere in Canada and demonstrates our commitment to providing Manitobans with the rate stability they expect,” said MPI Preisdent and CEO Marilyn McLaren. “We have held the line or reduced rates 14 of the last 15 years.”

If the application is approved by the Public Utilities Board, 430,531 vehicles (42.2 percent) receive reductions in their basic compulsory coverage next year, while 23,154 vehicles (2.3 per cent) will remain the same. A total of 556,522 policies (55.5 per cent) will be increased ─ most increases will be less than $50.

AVERAGE ADJUSTMENTS IN REVENUE

The proposed rates would be effective March 1, 2013 but because renewal dates are staggered, some vehicle owners wouldn’t pay the new rates until February 28, 2014.

In Northerm Manitonba, 98.3 per cent (10,027) passenger vehicles will receive rate decreases in the far north (all areas north of the 55th parallel, including Thompson, Lynn Lake and Churchill). As well, 100 per cent (14,690 units) will receive rate decreases in the near north (north of the 53rd parallel, including Flin Flon, The Pas and Grand Rapids).

Over the past three years ─ if this application is approved ─ vehicle owners in the far north will have received average rate decreases totaling 21.6 percent or $191, while in the near north the average rate decrease is 20.9 percent or $172.

“The average losses in both territories have been trending down in recent years, largely due to a reduction in serious losses,” said McLaren.  “There were $2.5 million in serious losses reported over three years (2009/10 to 2011/12) for both territories, compared to $11.4 million reported in the previous three years (2006/07 to 2008/09).  These reductions gradually are incorporated into their rates.”

The corporation has requested a 0.2 per cent overall average decrease to motorcycle rates (including moped and motor scooters).  If approved, 62.3 per cent of motorcycles will receive a decrease in rate, 5.3 per cent will remain the same and 32.4 per cent will increase. In total, 8,205 motorcycle owners will receive a decrease in their premium. The majority of those owners are registered in Winnipeg and central and western Manitoba.

Mopeds and small-engine displacement motor scooters (3,092 units) will experience an average rate increase of $44 to $290 per year, up from $246.

“The number of moped and motor scooters has more than quadrupled in size over the last decade,” said McLaren. “This rate increase is due to an increase in claims costs attributed to these types of vehicles.”

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