Auto insurance quotes in New Brunswick can vary greatly, with drivers potentially paying thousands of dollars more than necessary if they don't search for deals on their premiums, according to a recent report by CBC News.
The discovery comes after CBC examined a controversial graph shared on Twitter by a politician, which purported to show the median auto insurance premiums in each province for 2022.
The graph indicated that New Brunswick had some of the highest rates in Canada, with a median premium of $2,187. This was 75% higher than the $1,249 listed for Saskatchewan's public insurance system, which ranked the lowest in the graph.
However, data obtained by CBC revealed that premiums in the province are lower than four of the five provinces that the graph claimed had better rates, including Saskatchewan.
The errors in the graph were attributed to a misreading of a report commissioned by the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) and issued by consulting firm Ernst & Young, which constructed 30 different driver profiles and compared how much they would have to pay in nine different provinces across Canada.
To do this, Ernest & Young obtained insurance quotes for each customer profile in each province. However, in New Brunswick, only two or sometimes one quote was gathered for each profile in four communities, according to CBC News.
In the Ernst & Young report, two quotes for a 22-year-old in Moncton looking to insure a two-door 2008 Honda Civic EX-L coupe came in at $2,968 and one for $4,134.
A similar inquiry on comparison site surex.com for a 24-year-old Moncton driver with the same vehicle revealed quotes that went from $1,597 from Economical Insurance to $6,898 from Wawanesa.
Commenting on these figures, Brett Weltman, Insurance Bureau of Canada's (IBC) manager for media relations, said the Ernst & Young study did not give licensed insurance brokers the chance to “shop the market and present additional, more affordable quotes.”
There were no median insurance premiums indicated in the Ernst & Young study, the CBC reported, although data from the General Insurance Statistical Agency have shown that insurance companies were able to collect an average premium of $1,064 per insured passenger vehicle in New Brunswick in 2021.
“We recommend that drivers review their policy, shop around and ask their insurance representatives what they can do to help reduce their rates,” Weltman told CBC News.
The Ernst & Young study commissioned by ICBC was previously criticized by IBC, along with other industry players within the private insurance space.
“I don't expect monopolies to understand how people shop the market, but this is really a gross misrepresentation of the market in Alberta, of how people behave and how drivers are able to shop around to find savings to get the best product at the best possible price,” IBC Western and Pacific vice president Aaron Sutherland told CTV News, referring to how the study had identified Alberta as the province with the most expensive premiums.
“The report, commissioned by the British Columbia government auto insurance provider appears to extoll the virtues of public insurance, should be read with a healthy dose of scepticism,” a statement from Barry Haggis, president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Alberta, noted further. “We have serious concerns that the methodology used paints a skewed picture of Alberta's auto insurance market and presents misleading findings as to the prices drivers are paying.”
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