A steady decline in car theft is behind a request for an overall one-per-cent decrease in Autopac rates next year, Manitoba Public Insurance said Friday.
It means 65 per cent of car owners will pay on average about $20 less in insurance while those remaining will only see a slight increase.
MPI's president and chief executive officer Marilyn McLaren said two things are responsible for the proposed decrease, which still has to be approved by the regulator Public Utilities Board.
McLaren said MPI's ongoing ignition immobilizer program and the Winnipeg Auto Theft Suppression Strategy (WATSS), which targets known offenders, helped result in 2,500 fewer vehicles being stolen in 2007 than the year before.
McLaren said the drop was a "major breakthrough" and is behind auto-theft claims being $11.7 million lower than forecast.
She said that trend is expected to continue and that all things being equal, it's possible Manitobans will see a further rate reduction in 2011. The proposed rate reduction for 2009-10 is the second rate decrease in three years.
More than 300,000 vehicles in the province now have approved immobilizers either installed in the factory or through MPI's incentive program. Coupled with increased enforcement under WATSS, auto theft is down 43.9 per cent in Winnipeg for the first five months of 2008.
While most vehicle owners will see a modest decrease in rates, people who drive mopeds and scooters will see a 25-per-cent increase as the risk per vehicle has quadrupled in the last five years, MPI's chief financial officer Don Palmer said.
With higher gas prices more people are using mopeds and scooters, leading to an increase in crashes and injuries claims.
With the increase, the average moped premium will be about $146.
McLaren said if not for two other events, both beyond MPI's control, Manitobans would have likely seen an even larger decrease in rates.
The first was a major hail storm last August in and around Dauphin which resulted in 14,029 damage claims and 5,331 vehicles written off. Total losses incurred, including claims and emergency hail centre operating costs, were $52.1 million.
The second was a slowing of the North American economy and investment markets -- money in MPI's coffers is invested to maintain stability in rates and operations.
MPI will go before the PUB in coming months with the PUB making a decision by Christmas.
bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca
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