Helped out by a strong fiscal year, SGI is preparing an application for a rate decrease. The application will be presented to the Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel later this year.
“Stay tuned, and we’ll be announcing what that decrease is in a couple of months,” SGI President and CEO Andrew Cartmell said.
Cartmell said it’s too early to provide a potential ballpark figure, but any decrease would be a few per cent.
Both sides of SGI’s business, SGI Canada and the SGI Auto-Fund, saw strong years which contribute to this proposed rate reduction.
SGI Canada, which includes home, injury, health and other types of insurance, posted a $59.4 million profit in 2017-18. From that amount, $35.8 million will go back to the province.
SGI also continued their expansion in other provinces, beginning the sale of personal property and auto insurance in Ontario. SGI is also active in B.C., Alberta and Manitoba.
This helped contribute to an 8.7 per cent growth in premiums. The Crown corporation boasted that this is outperforming the industry average of three per cent.
This continued inter-provincial expansion is central in SGI’s business plans. Their goal is to have both SGI Canada and the Auto-Fund securing more than a billion dollars in premium sales by 2020. SGI Canada saw $802 million in premiums and the SGI Auto-Fund secured $937 million.
“We think we can grow in those other four provinces, and that’s where we’re going to be putting our efforts,” Hargrave said.
In addition to potential financial gain, SGI sees Ontario and B.C. as good areas for growth due to the lack of Prairie storms. Last year, storm claims cost SGI Canada $50.2 million, and the vehicle side saw $33.6 million in claims. A July hail storm in Saskatoon racked up $15.9 million in vehicle claims by itself.
“When we have a policies in Ontario and B.C. It spreads the risk out amongst all five of those provinces, and that’s one of the things that’s key to saving money on those claims,” Hargrave said.
Traffic safety programs continue to be a major part of SGI’s other operations. Last year saw 102 vehicle related fatalities. A high number, but positive movement. These preliminary numbers represent the lowest fatality rates on Saskatchewan’s roads since 1954.
Injuries have also been on a downward trend since 2012.
Hargrave credits these declining figures to anti-impaired driving initiatives like “Be a Good Wingman.”