CAA is offering new-to-Manitoba top-up insurance that covers pothole damage to tires.
The concept is getting mixed reviews among Winnipeggers, after a year that saw hundreds of MPI claims opened and thousands of potholes patched.
CAA Manitoba’s “Tire Pothole & Puncture Protection” makes up one of several new auto insurance products the company has rolled out in the province — new coverage that will reimburse clients with up to $25 per tire, per incident, CAA’s government relations director Elliot Silverstein told Global News on Thursday.
The annual cost of the coverage depends on a person’s situation, he said.
A spokesperson later confirmed the top-up would cost $10/year.
Silverstein expects the coverage will be popular among Manitoba drivers following a frustrating year on our roads.
“We encourage people to make sure they keep their cars in working order because potholes, obviously, are a challenge through the year,” Silverstein said.
MPI says it approved 2,059 pothole claims in Winnipeg in the first six months of 2022, which amounts to more than six times the number of claims that were approved in all of last year.
The Crown corporation covered 2,367 pothole claims in all of Manitoba in the same amount of time. MPI approved 555 the year before.
The idea of paying for additional coverage is disappointing to some Winnipeggers who feel limited by the province’s government-run car insurance market.
Others with whom Global News spoke on Thursday said they’d be willing to pay more. Some expressed frustration with the city, calling on officials to do better with road repair management.
The city has handled dozens of pothole claims this year, a spokesperson said in an email. However, out of 146 that were filed, none have been paid out.
Over the previous six years, excluding 2022, residents submitted 456 pothole claims, among which only four were approved.
Winnipeggers haven’t filed as many claims with the city since 2016, a year that counted 148.