Alberta rate board considers “acceptable” profit margin for insurers

Alberta’s Automobile Insurance Rate Board (AIRB) recently held a series of consultation meetings to “discuss an acceptable cost of capital and profit margin for auto insurers.”
These consultations will be a factor during the AIRB’s annual review of compulsory insurance premiums, the AIRB noted in a press release.
The AIRB sets premiums for mandatory auto insurance coverage for private passenger vehicles, monitors premiums for optional coverage, and reviews and approves rating programs for new insurers entering the Alberta market.
The public consultations are part of Alberta’s automobile insurance reform process. The last such review, held in June 2006, did not address insurance company profits, saying such discussion would be saved for this round of consultations.
Economists from Canada and the United States, actuarial professionals, and insurance industry stakeholders made presentations at the most recent consultation meetings, held Nov. 8-10 in Calgary. The board’s consumer representative also presented information.
AIRB said transcripts and submissions made at the consultation meetings would be made available at some point on its Web site.
Maximum premiums for mandatory auto insurance coverage are set by the AIRB each year following a series of public meetings as well as input from the industry and the board’s consumer representative. The next meetings are expected to be held in June 2007.