What you need to know about car insurance in Manitoba

Car insurance in Canada is mandatory. However, there isn’t one set of rules about car coverage. Each province is different, and it’s important to know what to expect, depending on where you live.

Manitoba has a pretty simple setup when it comes to insuring your vehicle. For decades now, the Keystone Province has collectively decided that car insurance should be handled by the public sector. (Although it is possible to purchase additional private insurance if you so choose, this option is rarely utilized). In the 1960s Manitoba’s Automobile Insurance Committee established a Crown Corporation that is simply called Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI).

Many Manitobans argue that we owe our relatively low insurance rates to the fact that our lone insurer is government-owned. There is also a certain logic to the idea that the provincial government is quite likely to take traffic safety and road maintenance as seriously as possible if they are responsible for the inevitable insurance losses that would come with inattention to those areas.

Mandatory car insurance in Manitoba

It is a crime in Manitoba to operate a vehicle that is not registered with MPI and/or that is not covered by MPI’s Basic Autopac insurance coverage. Manitoba’s absolute minimal coverage includes:

• $200,000 in third-party liability for claims made against you anywhere in Canada or the USA.

• All perils coverage that protects you from accidental damage to your vehicle caused by collision, vandalism, theft, flooding, hail, storms, fire, and explosions.

• Personal Injury Protection (PIPP) that covers injury or death.

MPI also offers a wide variety of optional additions to this basic package, as well as a broad range of deductible and premium options.

In order to possess a valid Manitoba driver’s license, you must bay a basic insurance premium (even if you don’t own a vehicle or have one registered in your name). This ensures that every driver has a minimum of $200,000 in third party liability coverage if they’re in a collision while driving an uninsured vehicle (as long as they didn’t own that particular uninsured vehicle).

Determining the cost of insurance in Manitoba

Even though the provincial government provides the insurance coverage, it doesn’t mean you don’t pay. Your rate will be set based on different factors, the same way car insurance in Canada is handled elsewhere. MPI determines your overall insurance cost using four primary factors:

1. Type and make of your vehicle: Your vehicle’s value as determined by the make, model and year will factor in to the price paid to insure it. Some vehicles have a lower claim risk than others, and consequently cost less to insure. Think about a mini-van versus a sports car, and you can see how not all vehicles are equally likely to get into an accident.

2. Where the vehicle is being driven: Manitoba is divided up into four territories, with each territory being assessed for risk differently. See the 2016 Autopac guide for more details.

3. What the vehicle is used for: MPI has several different categories of usage that you can choose from when purchasing insurance. These include pleasure, all-purpose, collector, and layaway, amongst others.

4. Your driving record: Like most car insurance companies, MPI will increase the cost of your insurance coverage if you have a tendency to get into accidents or collect speeding tickets. If you have a relatively high driver safety rating, you will receive a discount on your insurance.

Questions or concerns about your car insurance in Manitoba

While one could argue about the long-term wisdom of having no private competition within the car insurance market, there is no denying the convenience of having one simple place to go anywhere in the province to get your insurance coverage. With MPI offices across Manitoba, you’re rarely very far a face-to-face representative.

You can contact MPI through their website, or get someone on the phone at the following:

In Winnipeg: 204-985-7000

Toll Free: 1-800-665-2410

TTY/TTD: 204-985-8832

Out-of-Province Claims: 1-800-661-6051

Contact Centre Hours:

Monday to Friday: 7:30am-7:00pm

Saturday: 8:30am-4:00pm

Sunday: Closed