MPI rates to remain fixed for 57% of Manitoba vehicle owners in 2016

The Public Utilities Board says it will keep insurance rates for most Manitoba drivers fixed in 2016, but that doesn't apply to cab companies.

PUB announced Tuesday that insurance for 615,474 vehicle owners (57.24 per cent) in Manitoba will remain unchanged from 2015 as of March 1.

Based on Manitoba Public Insurance's rate design, some motorists can even look forward to rate decreases. Motorcycle and trailer owners will see decreases of 7.6 per cent and 3.8 per cent, respectively.

But there are others who will see rate hikes. Commercial companies will pay 2.5 per cent more, while public (taxi) businesses will see rate hikes of 6.3 per cent.

The announcement was panned by the Winnipeg Taxi Alliance (WTA).

"While an increase was not unexpected, today's 6.3 per cent hike was greater than anticipated by our sector and is one more fixed cost that will impact the bottom line of all taxi owners in Winnipeg," Luc Lewandoski, spokesperson for the WTA, said in a statement.

"Costs of operating a safe, trusted ride-for-hire vehicle in Manitoba have been steadily rising and today's increase will need to be absorbed by the hundreds of taxi owners."

Lewandoski went onto indicate that the hike proves commercially insured companies are the only "trusted ride-for-hire" kinds of vehicle services in Manitoba.

In September, Duffy's and Unicity banded together in attempt to stop ride-sharing program Uber from entering the Manitoba market.

Under the coming rate changes, insurance for individual vehicle owners will be determined "based on their driving record, the registered vehicle (make and model and year), [and] the purpose for which the vehicle is driven and the territory in which the [owner] resides," PUB added in the statement.

"There will be no change to permit and certificate rates, vehicle premium discounts and driver licence premiums, service and transaction fees, fleet rebates or surcharges, or the $40 discount on approved aftermarket and manufacturer/dealer installed anti-theft devices."