One-piece driver’s licences on hand this week

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This article was published 12/01/2010 (5951 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitobans can begin kissing their clumsy two-piece driver’s licences goodbye.

Beginning this week, anyone who renews their licence will receive a new one-piece card — standard in most Canadian provinces for years.

Also beginning this week, vehicle owners will be able to renew their Autopac insurance for up to five years without visiting an agent — unless they wish to make changes to their policy.

“We found that about 80 per cent of our (Autopac) customers weren’t making changes to their policy so for convenience sake… we came up with the five-year renewal,” said Brian Smiley, a spokesman for Manitoba Public Insurance, Monday.

When Manitobans renew their licence, they will first receive a temporary certificate. The new “tamper-proof” card will be mailed to them within seven to 10 business days.

If a driver’s photograph is not up for renewal this year, his or her existing licence photograph will be incorporated into the new single card. At picture-renewal time, drivers will then get a card that will last five years. New validation stickers on licence plates will be good for up to five years and then replaced every five years at renewal.

Drivers will still be billed annually for their licence and insurance, but won’t be required to visit an Autopac agent each year. For convenience, telephone banking and e-payments will be available in between renewals, MPI said.

Clients who don’t want to wait until their driver’s licence is up for renewal to receive the handy new one-piece card can get one by paying a $10 fee.

It will also cost drivers $10 to get a new card if they change addresses within Manitoba. And they’ll have to go to an Autopac agent’s office or MPI service centre to fill out the paperwork.

All Manitoba drivers will be converted to the one-piece licence by Feb. 28, 2011, MPI said. Because of staggering of photo renewals, it will take four years for everyone to be the full five-year cycle for licences and Autopac.

Manitoba drivers also have the option now of obtaining a new enhanced driver’s licence, which is a photo identification card that denotes identity and citizenship. The enhanced licence allows Manitobans to cross the border into the United States without a passport, as long as they’re travelling by land or water. The extra cost is $30.

About 9,000 Manitobans have purchased enhanced identification cards since they were first issued a little over a year ago. Any of those people who want to exchange their enhanced ID cards for an enhanced driver’s licence can do so at no extra charge at their first renewal date.

Smiley could not immediately estimate the cost of moving to the one-piece driver’s licence system. But he said in an email it would have “zero financial impact on Autopac customers.”

MPI took over responsibility for processing driver’s licences five years ago.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca