By next year, most Manitobans would be paying much less by way of auto insurance premiums. This is due to the fact that there have been fewer injury claims as well as lesser thefts.
MPI or Manitoba Public Insurance made an announcement on Tuesday and stated that around 91% of the drivers would be seeing a 6.8% drop in their basic auto insurance premium rates due to the sharp decrease in injury claims and costs arising out of vehicle thefts along with increased operational efficiencies.
However, the rates will have to be approved by the Public Utilities Board. If these new rates get the approval they will take effect from March 1, 2012. In that case, the average premium on a private passenger vehicle would be $836, which is around $61 down when compared to last year.
Marily McLaren, MPI president and CEO has stated that these savings were ‘significant’ and added that the number of injury claims as a result of auto collisions had actually declined in the last 5 years.
Manitoba drivers seem to be receiving a string of good news and the Autopac savings is the latest.
Sometime earlier this year, the Public Utilities Board had ordered MPI to part with a refund of $320 million to ratepayers. This was ordered following an actuarial review that found a surplus. So, at least 579,257 Autopac ratepayers got their rebate checks last month. The checks were sent via mail for an average sum of $420.
MPI had made an announcement two weeks ago, seeking regulatory approval to release an additional sum of $16 million as payouts to the ratepayers who had claimed that they were shortchanged as they had received only partial payments or nothing at all.
McLaren stated that the public insurer presently has data which will help in better assessment of costs on future claims. This would reduce any likelihood of Manitobans seeing any more rebate checks in their mailboxes.
At the moment McLaren does not foresee any more rebates in the next few years. As they are getting closer to assessing the future cost of injury claims, there is very little chance of seeing any more rebates.
The main reason for the drop in rates has largely been due to the decreasing numbers in injury claims. This could be due to the fact that older drivers are being more cautious while they are on the roads or due to the fact that most of the vehicles these days come loaded with safety features.
