IBC launches study to clear air over auto insurance rates

As a response to misconceptions in the public domain about automobile insurance rates, the Insurance Bureau of Canada has launched a report aimed at increasing the general population’s understanding.
The report reviews the costs of auto insurance from 2000 until 2005 (the last year that comprehensive statistics are available) as well as consumer perceptions.
“This study helps debunk the myths that persist despite access to independently verifiable information,” Stan Griffin, IBC’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
The biggest myth the report found was that private sector automobile insurance is more costly than government-provided insurance.
As an example, Mike Milke, the study’s author, points to Manitoba where over the last six years, “government-provided insurance premiums in Manitoba were yet higher on average than those offered in private sector provinces such as Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.”
Faulty studies and surveys that purport to measure insurance costs by surveying internet quotes of auto insurance in private sectors are misleading, he continues, explaining that “quotes are merely reflections of bids.”
In one such survey, estimates of insurance premiums in 2005 exaggerated Alberta’s average premium by 67.7% and Ontario’s by 80.7%.
The complete report can be found at www.ibc.ca.