MPI offers new winter tire loan for drivers

WINNIPEG – A program intended to help reduce the number of collisions on Winnipeg roads this winter will help drivers buy winter tires.

Manitoba Public Insurance created and implemented the new Get a Grip program Monday, offering a low-interest loan for those buying winter tires.

“This loan is low cost, prime plus two per cent; (it) will allow them to purchase the snow tires again at a reasonable cost and up to 48 months,” MPI’s Brian Smiley said Tuesday.

At the Kal Tire Shop on Pembina Avenue, racks and racks of wheels are already stocked for the upcoming season; there are 10,000 tires ready at the six locations across Winnipeg.

“Through my store alone, we’ve done at least 50 to 75 in the last 24 hours,” Kal Tire’s Patrick McDevitt said Tuesday. “We’ve been fielding a bunch of phone calls, morning, lunch time and night. Based on that, we’ll be doing 30 to 50 per cent more than last year.”

The financing program is offered for winter tires up to $2,000 and 48 months. For example,  if you finance $1,000 in new snow tires over 12 months, you will pay an extra $85.25 extra a month on your insurance.  Two years will cost you an additional $43.69, three years, $29.85, and after 48 months, $22.93 extra per month.

As motorists switch out their wheels from summer to winter, the hope by tire companies and Manitoba Public Insurance is fewer accidents in the upcoming winter season.

“We know that they reduce sliding on ice and snow, we know they can help drivers avoid collisions altogether, but the onus is really up to the driver,” Smiley said.

To apply for MPI’s Get a Grip program, you can go to any authorized tire company, fill out an application, and the tire shop will send in your application to Autopac.

The driver is expected to pay for the first month while at the shop; every additional monthly payment will be added to insurance fees.