Drivers who waited months for repairs during MPI strike say they should get insurance rebate
'My car sat at their shop for months,' says driver who's paid insurance while waiting for repairs since May
It's been more than four months since someone broke into Kathleen Zeweniuk's River Heights home, took her keys and stole her 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee — but the theft hasn't been the most frustrating part.
Zeweniuk's vehicle was recovered one day after it was stolen, but it's been held at a Manitoba Public Insurance compound on Plessis Road since — including the nearly 10 weeks MPI employees were on strike.
Zeweniuk still doesn't know when she'll get it back.
"It's been up in the air on even the condition of my vehicle," Zeweniuk said. The Jeep was in the compound during an Aug. 24 hailstorm that pummelled the city, and she's not sure if it was damaged during that.
"It's a little bit nerve-racking not being able to see it and being away from it for so long," she said.
Some drivers, like Zeweniuk, are now wondering if the Crown corporation, which has a monopoly on vehicle insurance in Manitoba, will consider offering rebates to policyholders whose claims have been delayed by the months-long strike.
"It hasn't been an acceptable amount of time that they've dealt with my claim, and I should not be paying my full premium for it to sit in their lot," she said.
Roughly 1,700 MPI workers went on strike Aug. 28. When they went back to work on Nov. 3, there were approximately 16,000 reported claims in varying stages of the claim process.
But the public insurer isn't considering refunds in most cases, said MPI spokesperson Kristy Rydz.
If a vehicle is written off, the policy will be cancelled retroactively from the date MPI took possession of it and the policyholder will receive a refund from that date.
Otherwise, owners should keep their insurance active "to protect the vehicle from any further damage that may occur while it is parked and waiting to be repaired," Rydz said in an email.
The Manitoba branch of the Consumers' Association of Canada, an intervener in MPI rate application hearings held by the Public Utilities Board, has concerns about that.
Jacquie Wasney, a board member with the association, said MPI should consider rebates for some policyholders who didn't receive the usual level of service during the strike but still had to pay their regular insurance rates.
"I think there's a few places where MPI needs to look case-by-case," Wasney said. "Because that's not fair when … they had no control over a strike."
The public insurer could also consider offering rental cars to people who didn't have loss-of-use coverage, or extending it for those who do, she said.
Normally, people who have that coverage get a rental vehicle for 30 days, but it was temporarily extended to 45 days as of September.
In 2022, loss-of-use coverage was temporarily extended to 60 days due to repair delays caused by supply chain issues.
Zeweniuk is paying monthly insurance premiums of around $165 while waiting for repairs. She was also charged around $100 for a rental vehicle for two additional days after her loss-of-use coverage ran out.
While she's been reimbursed by MPI for those costs, the coverage for a rental vehicle hasn't been extended, despite the time it's taking to deal with her claim.
"There should be a threshold for an acceptable timeframe that MPI deals with these claims," Zeweniuk said.
Backlog expected to be cleared by spring: MPI
Rydz said MPI expects the estimating and adjusting backlog to be cleared by spring.
The insurer has restored full services in all its locations across the province by creating new processes and adding resources to areas with the largest backlogs, she said.
Meanwhile, Cassidy Nicholls is also among those paying premiums for a vehicle she hasn't been able to drive for months.
She's been waiting for repairs on her 2023 Kia Seltos since a May 30 collision.
She didn't have loss-of-use coverage, which has meant additional transportation costs, but the Winnipegger has been relying mainly on catching rides with others to get around.
Her vehicle, which wasn't driveable after the collision, was also taken to the Plessis Road compound, where Nicholls said it suffered hail damage during the August storm.
She paid deductibles for both vehicles involved in the crash because she was at fault. She also paid another deductible after the hail damage — which she only found out about two months after the storm.
"I'm paying my insurance premiums when they weren't providing services during the strike anyway, so I think it's just so ridiculous that I'm on the hook for that," Nicholls said.
Her vehicle has been towed to a shop for repairs. She hopes to have it back sometime early in the new year, but she's also hoping for a rebate.
"If I was still driving my vehicle I wouldn't expect MPI to be giving back rebates, but my car sat at their shop for months," Nicholls said.
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