Manitoba Public Insurance today filed its Basic Autopac rate application for the 2006-07 insurance year with the Public Utilities Board (PUB) for approval. The PUB will rule on the proposed rates after holding public hearings in October 2005.

• Today’s rate application proposes no change in overall premium revenue for 2006-07. This is the seventh year in eight that Manitoba Public Insurance has held the line on or decreased what Manitobans pay for auto insurance.
• If the new rates are approved, 526,815 vehicle owners or 62 per cent will see their premiums decrease or stay the same in 2006. Of the vehicles that will receive premium increases, most will be less than $20. Overall:
  • Premiums will go down for 57.55 per cent of vehicle owners (490,303 vehicles). About 92 per cent or 451,090 of these vehicle owners will see their premiums decrease by up to $50.
  • Premiums will remain unchanged for 4.3 per cent of vehicle owners (36,512 vehicles).
  • Premiums will increase for 38 per cent of vehicle owners (325,084 vehicles). For about 87 per cent or 283,115 of these vehicle owners, the increase will be less than $50. More than half (54 cent) of these motorists will see an increase of less than $20.
• The rates are effective March 1, 2006, but, because of staggered renewal dates, some drivers would not pay the new rates until February 2007.
• As always, the rate a vehicle owner pays for insurance is determined by the individual’s driving record, the kind of vehicle (make, model and year), what the vehicle is used for, and where the owner lives. In any given year, an individual rate may increase, decrease or remain the same based on the actual claims experience associated with these rating factors.
• Attached charts show the effect of the new rates on all Manitoba vehicles, on one vehicle across the five territories, and on four vehicles across the five territories.

Family passenger vehicles

• The average rate for a private passenger vehicle will be $797, $4 less than in 2005.

Motorcycles

• Motorcycle rates continue to be insufficient to cover their claims costs, but this year they are starting to close the gap. Rates will increase on average 12.7 per cent.
• A new “pleasure” insurance use has been proposed for 2006-07, while the current “blended usage” all-purpose category is to be replaced by simple all-purpose. The new all-purpose rate is 3.8 per cent higher than the blended rate would have been and the pleasure category is 6.5 per cent less than the blended.
  

Trailers

• Rates for trailers will decrease 4.9 per cent.
  

Off-Road Vehicles

• ORV rates will decrease by 20 per cent.