IBC Reports Drop in N.B. Facility Ass’n. Insureds

A bulletin from the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) notes that the insurance industry has moved about 2,000 drivers from New Brunswick’s high-priced Facility Association (a type of assigned risk plan) in March.

At the beginning of the month, there were almost 17,000 of the Province’s drivers insured by Facility Association. Today, the number has dropped to approximately 15,000, or about 3.8 percent of the market.

“On February 24, IBC committed to moving 7,200 New Brunswick drivers out of Facility Association by August of this year,” said the bulletin. “To meet that goal in six months would mean finding lower-priced policies for 1,200 drivers per month between March and August of this year.”

“Right now, we are ahead of schedule but we will not stop until we reach our goal of 2.5 percent of the market,” stated Stan Griffin, IBC President and CEO. “Insurers along with their agents and brokers must continue to work together toward our goal of moving 7,200 drivers out of the Facility Association,” Griffin told an industry meeting in Fredericton.

Griffin attributed the rapid decline in the number of drivers leaving Facility Association in March to the hard work of agents and brokers in helping their clients find lower-priced options and to the introduction of a new toll-free consumer help line in New Brunswick.

“We know that many brokers and agents have worked hard to make this happen and we applaud their efforts,” Griffin continued. “But there is more to be done. Over the next five months, the industry will continue to be ‘on the hunt’ for more than 5,000 additional good drivers who should be insured in the
regular market now that the legislative reforms introduced last July have brought a return to stability,” he added.