‘It has never been this busy’ Auto body shops swamped following record-setting weather-related claims By: Tyler Searle Posted: 6:24 PM CDT Wednesday, Jul. 8, 2026

Manitoba’s auto body industry has kicked into high gear after rain and hail battered parts of the province in early June, smashing windshields, submerging vehicles and shattering the 30-year-old record for the most auto insurance claims tied to a single weather event, new data shows.

Manitoba Public Insurance logged more than 30,000 insurance claims connected to the massive storm system that settled over Winnipeg and surrounding areas on June 9 — exceeding the record set during a 1996 hailstorm that generated 24,000 claims, data provided to the Free Press shows.

“Truthfully, it has never been this busy,” said Trevor Sprechert, general manager of Dr. Dent Winnipeg.

“I’ve seen windshields being broken, sunroofs, pretty substantial dents on hoods and roofs. There is a plethora of different types of damage.”

Sprechert said the phone has been ringing steadily at his shop on St. James Street, where crews are working hard to estimate damages and handle direct repair claims made through MPI.

The Crown corporation received 29,787 reports of hail damage, 520 instances of flood damage and 147 incidents involving wind damage to vehicles throughout the month. A staggering 93 per cent of those claims were related to hail that fell on Winnipeg between June 9 and June 11, MPI data shows.

In contrast, the insurance provider logged just 466 storm-related claims in June 2025, 1,480 in June 2024 and 2,445 in June 2023.

“It’s scary out there,” said John Vernaus, president of Vernaus Auto Body.

“I think that it’s not over, and I would say to people get your cars done as quick as you can because it does depreciate the value. If you don’t repair it and another storm happens, it could be a write-off with accumulated damage.”

Vernaus, who has worked in the industry for about 50 years, has witnessed the demand for vehicle repairs skyrocket in recent years. Annual sales at his shop have more than doubled to $4.5 million, up from $2 million in 2020, he said.

“We’ve managed to hire a few more guys and try and keep up,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to slow down.”

His prediction has held true, at least into the early days of July.

The MPI data shows extreme weather generated 173 flood claims between June 28 and July 1 alone — including 52 in Brandon, 32 in Winnipeg, 20 in Dauphin and 11 in Swan River.

A storm in southwest Manitoba on Sunday resulted in 1,200 new hail claims, with 75 per cent filed by residents in Killarney, 20 per cent from Boissevain and the rest from surrounding communities.

MPI spokesperson Kristy Rydz cautioned the numbers are subject to change as reports continue to flood in. The ongoing damage means 2026 is likely to become a record-breaking year for weather-related claims in Manitoba, she said.

The Crown corporation opened two hail response centres in Winnipeg last month to help process claims. Together, the sites are capable of fielding around 400 appointments per day, MPI said.

Winnipeg resident Angela Anderson said she was able to easily file an insurance claim with MPI and have her vehicle assessed at a glass repair shop, just days after hail stones cracked the rear window of her SUV in early June. However, she waited nearly one month before the business was able fix the damage.

She expects she will have to take the vehicle to a different auto body shop to repair dents caused by hail.

“If you don’t repair it and another storm happens, it could be a write-off with accumulated damage.”

Meanwhile, she is still dealing with outstanding insurance claims related to flooding and roof damage at her home.

“I’ve learned strategies just to turn off my emotions right now. Just to be kind of on autopilot mode and do what I have to do,” she said. “I can only control so much… It’s just a waiting game.”

Allowing MPI-accredited auto body shops to independently conduct damage assessments helps reduce potential backlogs, said George Semchuk, an executive with the Automotive Trades Association of Manitoba, who is operations manager at J-Max Collision and Glass.

“It’s kind of an emergency response to handle this significant volume of claims,” Semchuk said. “It is very smart to include shops in that process, otherwise it would have been very difficult to process this volume.”

Malcolm Bird, a political science professor at the University of Winnipeg, echoed that sentiment. He said the Crown corporation has many advantages over private auto insurers elsewhere in the country, including the ability to collaborate with private industry.

“Publicly owned auto insurance is the best way to run an auto insurance system,” he said. “When you only have one provider, you actually get a lot of efficiencies. They deal with all the shops, all the customers.”

The Crown corporation, along with all auto-insurance providers, is increasingly under pressure owing to severe weather events and rising repair costs.

“Cars are a lot more expensive to fix. They are much more complicated — there are more sensors, more computer thing-a-ma-doos, getting the parts is harder,” he said. “That’s a really big additional factor.”

Meanwhile, the government and ratepayers want insurance rates to remain low, Bird said.

Last month, MPI vice-president and chief claims officer John Bowering said it’s too early to say whether the surge in claims could boost insurance rates.

Bowering noted MPI is protected by its own insurance policy, which helps mitigate unexpected claim costs.

Justice Minister Matt Wiebe, whose portfolio includes MPI, said the province is closely monitoring the influx of claims.

“We know Manitobans deserve services they can depend on, and we’ve done a lot of work to stabilize MPI since taking office,” he said in a statement.

“We’ll continue to do the work necessary to keep rates low and services dependable for all Manitobans.”

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca