If you are a driver who has been careful and courteous over the years you are about to get rewarded for your good driving habits.
The Public Utilities Board has approved plans by Manitoba Public Insurance to change the merit system to a sliding scale.
It is called the DSR system and goes from minus 20 for poor drivers to plus 10 for those who have been ticket and accident free for a number of years.
Those who end up on the minus side can recover those negative points quicker as a motivation for good driving.
Under the new system MPI anticipates that approximately 170,000 vehicle owners will receive 30 percent discounts on their Autopac premiums rather than the current 25 percent.
On average, these drivers will pay approximately $50 less than under the old system.
Manitoba's public auto insurer had proposed that approximately 450,000 drivers would receive immediate discounts of $15 or $20 dollars.
The corporation anticipates that the overall financial impact of the changes ordered by PUB is nominal and is not likely to impact the upcoming General Rate Application that will be filed on June 18, 2009.
"We are pleased that so many Manitobans will see meaningful savings in the first year of this program. We are also gratified that the PUB shares our view that the DSR system will serve to motivate drivers to drive safely," Manitoba Public Insurance Chief Executive Officer Marilyn McLaren said.
