Why Intact is prepared to lose market share in personal auto
March 28, 2018 by Greg Meckbach
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Canada’s largest property and casualty insurer is prepared to lose market share on auto in order to improve its bottom line, company officials said Monday.
“We have been and continue to be prepared to lose market share in order to fix our short-term challenges,” Darren Godfrey, senior vice president of personal lines for Intact Insurance, said Tuesday during a presentation at Intact’s investor day.“We are losing (market share) in terms of non-renewing, where customers are cancelling their renewal book.”
Godfrey added that customers are choosing not to renew their personal auto insurance with Intact because they are being quoted a higher price. Consequently, he said, “what comes through the door from a new business standpoint [in personal auto] is important.”
Godfrey’s comments concerned Intact’s rate increases in personal auto insurance. Intact expected a 5% rate increase Canada-wide in auto this year.
So far in 2018, Intact has been approved for auto rate increases in Ontario, Alberta and Atlantic Canada. Starting in the summer of 2016, Intact decided to take rate increases “pretty much coast to coast” Godfrey said.
Asked by an analyst how price increases affect the Intact brand, chief strategy officer Monika Federau said Intact is “not seeing a deterioration in the brand.”
Intact reported last month that in 2017, its combined ratio in personal auto was 101.7%, up from 99.9% in 2016. One reason is the cost to repair vehicles, which has increased because of more expensive parts and newer technologies.
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The inevitable happens as companies grow so do claims. Ideally all insurers should be consistent in their writings for balance sake but that hasn’t happened. When some insurers file for rate increases, a portion of those consummers move to insurers either not yet approved or not intending rate change. The latter then has to deal with growth and claims. What we all might not know if spin off programmes by some insurers have resulted in poor experience and in an effort to keep those groups, lesser changes are made leaving individual insureds bearing the load moreso.
It’s no secret that we are part of a society justifying their carelessness and sometimes fraudulent claims either not caring or unaware they are contributing to rate changes. Education is good but fixing attitude is difficult in a self serving environment.
lol, everyone is willing (and trying) to lose their market share in personal auto right now. It’s no longer a guaranteed money maker.
If intact is losing money on auto why are they he cheapest around for young drivers ? Doesn’t seem like a desirable market – I don’t understand the strategy
Reading the article presented makes me ask why a “RELATED ARTICLES” item titled:
Combined ratio improves 3.7 points, direct premiums written up 5% for Intact Insurance’s parent
that appears to be about one month short of three years old is even brought to the table?
Along with it are numerous references to forward thinking regarding Bill 15 which just don’t appear to be much more than crystal ball gazing… and supporting the “Flavor-of-the-day.”
Insurers are in the business of making money make no mistake, and without the insurance industry making money, we would all be in a fine mess.. no financing, no growth, no stability, no certainty.
No protection from financial hardship thru a loss that could have been insured.
YOU, the buying consumer, have to take responsibility for their success or failure within the market the share with their competitors just like the other business models out there. Banking, Oil and gas, retail, food, health and wellness, stock markets, transportation, communication and hundreds of others, are all in business to make money. Period. And your buying choices decide who survives and who falls..
It is the consumers who choose to tip the balance with their buying choices..
Consumers listen up. If you want to make a difference, if you want to guide your premiums in a way you see fit, become an informed consumer, the age of letting someone else make your decisions for you is over.
There are enough tools, resources, and well educated professionals out there that can provide guidance and insight so you, the consumer can choose if any insurer deserves your premium dollars and any broker your trust and your exchange of information towards making those decisions.
You are your own “Best Buying” guide. Choose wisely, with truthful knowledge and informed care.
Make YOUR Insurer of choice YOUR insurer for the right reasons.
Their underwriters are very short sighted, i am 50, one minor traffic infraction last year, and I was rear ended by parking authority on dvp, not my fault. No accidents since 1987, no speeding tickets since 1996, I have been in 4 serious car accidents as a passenger, only 1 day missed work ( so zero malingering). My insurance increased from 2000 to 3766 a year!!! My car isn’t even worth 4000, and i don’t drive to work. I will be leaving intact.
Lol….going through HELL with Intact right now.
Nov 4, guy runs a stop sign and pulls out less than 10 feet infront of me. I am on a 4 lane main road, he is coming out of a small sideroad. He gets ticketed by police and admits its his fault. Called Intact 10 minutes after the collision with all the info from the police etc.
It is now Nov 27 and the vehicle is still in the shop. No one calls me or returns my calls or my agents calls. You cant talk to a supervisor because its not their policy. you give the ok to fix ir on Nov 6 and on Nov 27 they ask if I will authorize to have it fixed!!!
Nothing but run around and if I didnt call I would still be waiting for an adjuster to call.
No replies to emails, no return calls, nothing.
This is insured as a commercial vehicle. We are a small business and have told them repeatedly we need our truck for work.
Currently we are hiring our competition to service our clients just to fufill our promise of delieries to them.
Driving since 1977. Zero accidents.
With Intact for over 15 years and zero claims.
Will be changing Insurance companies asap !
Contact the insurance ombudsman. Trust me! You have recourse.
The premiums aren’t up “5%” – that’s simply the AVERAGE. Premiums are upwards of 30%. Once Intact accomplishes what it’s set out to accomplish they will come begging. They do things at their own convenience. Cherry pickers one year then inflate their premiums significantly other years in order to shed what they deem as a bad book of business. This is why public insurance is a better alternative.