Risk Management

Auto Theft Strategies

Results in 2007 demonstrate the value of the corporation’s two-pronged approach to fighting auto theft. Protecting vehicles by installing immobilizers and keeping tabs on auto thieves through an extensive curfew program have together helped reduce auto theft provincewide by 34.4 per cent since 2004. During the same period, thefts in Winnipeg declined 38.5 per cent (from 8,897 to 5,476).

The average number of vehicles stolen daily in Winnipeg has fallen from 24 in 2004, to 20 in 2005 and 2006, and to 15 in 2007. In the first three months of 2008, there have been fewer than 10 vehicles stolen each day in Winnipeg. The estimated savings in claims costs has been $31.8 million over the past three years.

WATSS

The Winnipeg Auto Theft Suppression Strategy (WATSS) – a partnership among Manitoba Public Insurance, Manitoba Justice and the Winnipeg Police Service – is one critical element in the fight against auto theft. WATSS provides intensive monitoring of the worst repeat offenders, using the combined forces of families, schools, social services, law enforcement and probation.

At the end of 2007, 131 youth were being monitored through WATSS, including 55 Level 4A offenders, or those who are considered to be at the greatest risk of reoffending. Level 4A offenders are contacted up to 36 times per week under the WATSS program.

IMMOBILIZERS

In June 2005, the corporation announced the creation of an Immobilizer Incentive Fund to provide all Manitobans with financial incentives to install electronic immobilizers in their vehicles.

In April 2006, the corporation announced it would provide vehicles most targeted by auto thieves with immobilizers at no cost, and provide a one-stop process for arranging installation. Although thousands of Manitobans took advantage of the program, there remained more than 30,000 owners of Most-at-Risk vehicles who refused to join the fight against auto theft by installing a free immobilizer.

The government recognized in 2007 that the voluntary program was not working. Some customers had been approached more than a half-dozen times and still hadn’t installed an immobilizer. In September 2007, the province made it a legal requirement for Most-at–Risk vehicles to have an approved immobilizer installed if they’re driven in Winnipeg or used to commute there.

The Manitoba initiative coincided with new federal regulations that required all new vehicles made for sale in Canada after September 2007 to be protected with immobilizers that meet the national standard.

The new mandatory program increased the number of protected vehicles in the Winnipeg area by 40 per cent in 2007 – nearly 40,000 Most-at-Risk vehicle owners signed up for the program.

Today, the number of vehicles equipped with electronic immobilizers continues to grow, with 87 per cent of Most-at-Risk vehicles in Winnipeg protected. Provincewide, there are currently some 295,500 vehicles in Manitoba with immobilizers, including 92,000 with aftermarket devices and about 203,000 with factoryinstalled devices.

Four years of experience and more than 100,000 installations have demonstrated the effectiveness and reliability of immobilizers. In 2007, a robust quality control program – made up of the national Vehicle Security Installation Bureau (VSIB), the two major distributors and immobilizer installation facilities – ensured that 98 per cent of the immobilizer installations were completed problem free – a better record than most other consumer products. Nearly four out of five problems that have been reported were related to the condition of the vehicle before the installation. Most of these problems have been minor in nature and in most cases have been solved with a quick adjustment by the installation facility.

ACHIEVEMENT OF RESULTS

The impact of the growth of immobilizers and WATSS has been dramatic. In 2007/08, Manitoba recorded the largest drop in auto theft in 30 years. The number of claims reported by Manitobans relating to all auto crime categories fell in the fiscal year 2007/08, reducing claims costs by $11.7 million as:

• Total theft claims costs declined $7.5 million or 22.5 per cent;
• Attempted theft claims costs declined by $2.0 million or 16.7 per cent; and
• Partial theft claims costs declined by $2.2 million or 47.2 per cent.

In all, there were 6,977 vehicles stolen in Manitoba in the 2007 calendar year – 2,473 fewer than the year earlier. That brings the number of vehicles stolen in Manitoba to levels not seen since the millennium.

Most of the gains were made in Winnipeg, where the number of vehicles stolen dropped 29.1 per cent as monthly theft rates declined 17 of the last 18 months. In the fi rst three months of 2008, auto thefts in Manitoba dropped a further 42.5 per cent and by 45.8 per cent in Winnipeg, compared to the same period in 2007.

Manitoba Public Insurance remains committed to its multi-pronged approach to auto theft. It will continue to evolve to meet emerging challenges with the goal of achieving its business objectives and improving community safety throughout Manitoba.

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