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Speak Up

There was considerable discussion in New Brunswick last week after it was announced that vehicle insurance rates in Saint John, Moncton and the Acadian Peninsula are expected to rise by about 10 per cent, whereas rates are likely to go down in the other nine designated insurance assessment regions. But judging from many comments we have heard, many citizens do not understand how insurance works or why this is happening.

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In a nutshell, bad drivers cost everyone more money. The more accidents and claims (those for theft or for vandalism included) made in a region, the higher the insurance rates. The companies do have to cover their costs.

It is important, however, that the likelihood of increases in Metro does not mean that every vehicle owner will necessarily see a 10 per cent increase. Some may see no or very little increase. This is not an across-the-board rate hike of the sort we saw several years ago when the industry was clearly out of control and gouging, a situation that has since been corrected, with reasonable rates restored.

The reason some will see little or no increase is that the geographic area is but one of many factors insurance companies must consider. Also unlike the previous gouging, citizens today very much have considerable control over their insurance rates. Those who never get tickets for infractions (yes, speeding tickets will increase your insurance) will get better rates than those who collect tickets, for example. One's driving history and record do matter.

And that ought to be a large incentive for many drivers in Metro Moncton to pause and reconsider their driving habits. The city is known far and wide as a place full of bad drivers, and unfortunately there is plenty of evidence to support the contention. The insurance statistics are clear: Metro Monctonians are at a higher risk; they file more claims than most other areas.

It is time for everybody to slow down, pay more attention to the road than to cell phones, to obey the laws and treat stop signs as stop signs, to cite a few problems common in the city. It'll cut accidents and it'll put money in all our pockets instead of the pockets of insurance companies.