WINNIPEG — A Manitoba Public Insurance policy change means a Winnipeg family is on the hook for replacing two car seats after a collision that wasn’t their fault.
The seats were in Whitney Joubert’s father’s car when it was hit by an unknown driver while it was parked. The hit and run collision caused around $2,000 in damage.
MPI used to replace car seats in all collisions even if they were minor and there was no visible damage to the car seat. But that policy changed in May.
Joubert wanted the new seats since she didn’t know exactly what happened when her dad’s truck was hit, “We don’t know who hit it and the circumstances surrounding the actual hit. My dad was unable to open the back of the truck so I was legitimately concerned.”
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MPI’s Ward Keith says in those situations a child car seat’s safety isn’t affected, “What the literature and the research has told us is that the integrity, the safety of the car seat, is not compromised.
MPI says they covered the cost of five to seven thousand car seats per year before the policy change.
In a statement to Global News, Transport Canada says, “While not all collisions damage a child seat’s restraint system, some do, and this damage may not be visible. Moreover, as every collision is different, it’s difficult to determine what sort of crash will damage a seat, and which will not.”
She says she’ll replace the seats, which will cost around $500, rather than use them if she can’t be guaranteed that they’re safe.
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