Quebec auto insurers report “significant profits” in 2010

Automobile insurers in Quebec generated significant profits in 2010 – 17.3% of premiums written, according to the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) 2010 report on automobile insurance rates. This keeps with a positive trend observed over the past 10 years, the AMF said in its release. Québec-chartered insurers still dominate the home market, grabbing 63% of the $3.1 billion of automobile insurance premiums written in 2010, reports the AMF. “The excellent experience reported by all insurers, combined with a very low number of claims, helped boost the bottom line,” the AMF said, adding that the underwriting capacity of insurers operating in the province is “more than sufficient to meet consumer demand.””These results are remarkable and even exceed some of the returns expected by insurers for all their activities,” the release said. On Oct. 1, 2010, the distribution of replacement guarantees ended and was substituted by replacement insurance. Nearly 12,000 replacement insurance policies were sold for a total of $16.9 million in direct premiums in the last three months of 2010. There are several factors behind the competitive nature of this market, including a downward movement in rates for the eighth consecutive year and a growing number of insurers operating in all sectors of automobile insurance, the AMF added.