Manitoba's Public Utilities Board (PUB) has issued an order to Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) to complete a study into a new system that would require vehicles in the province to be registered under their primary driver – a move that could potentially lead to higher auto insurance rates for some households.
Under the current registration rules, families in the province can register their vehicles under the name of the member with the most merits on their driver’s license to save on insurance rates – even if the individual listed is not the primary driver of the automobile.
PUB executive director Darren Christle explained that "performance-based rates" are standard in every province but Manitoba. "What you're doing is incentivizing safe driving behavior, so those that are deemed to be higher-risk would actually pay more than those who are driving safely and prudently," he said.
Although the new registration system sounds like it could work on paper, it could lead to unfair insurance increases for some households. Drivers considered at "higher-risk" could include those with demerits due to accidents, or even teen drivers who have not collected any merits on their license.
The board gave MPI a year to complete the technical conference and report back. The PUB is expecting the new system to be implemented by 2021.
The PUB had also recently approved an overall general rate hike of 2.6%, effective March next year.
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