Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) is changing its rules for temporary registration permits in an attempt to reduce the number of people trying to game the system.
MPI spokesman Brian Smiley told 680 CJOB that, effective Monday, customers will be limited to one temporary registration permit for a maximum of seven days. Previously, they could purchase three 30-day permits.
“The temporary registration permits still must be displayed on the front windshield as we do today, however, moving forward, customers will (also) be asked to put a temporary registration plate on the rear of their vehicle. Hopefully they comply.”
Smiley said the rear plates will be rolled out gradually, and that MPI is following in the footsteps of a number of U.S. jurisdictions, but will be the first in Canada to go with the plates.
In many cases, Smiley said, MPI has found that vehicles using temporary permits were often abusing the system — and that cars with temporary insurance info tended to be in more collisions.
“In one situation, a Toyota minivan had five different owners and was on the road with temporary registration permits for more than 300 days in 2019,” he said.
“We also noticed that many of these vehicles that were on the road using temporary registration permits, they had a much higher claim frequency than other vehicles, meaning they were in more collisions than plated vehicles.”