Two firms offering auto insurance to pull out of Alberta market

Two insurance providers in Alberta have announced plans to stop offering automobile insurance to customers in Alberta.

Aviva Canada on Wednesday said it intends to phase out its home and auto insurance business through Aviva Direct, its direct-to-consumer business, in the province starting in January.

“We had to make the difficult decision to exit as the current environment in Alberta doesn’t foster growth,” Susan Penwarden, Aviva Canada’s managing director for personal lines, said in a statement.

Aviva Canada said costs of claims “for many years” have surpassed the premiums they’ve collected in the province, adding that the cost of litigation is the biggest factor in raising auto insurance premiums in Alberta.

Aviva Direct home and auto insurance is underwritten by S&Y Insurance.

The news comes almost three weeks after Sonnet Insurance said it would stop offering auto insurance coverage in Alberta in mid-December. Customers with Sonnet home insurance policies are not affected.

In a media release June 13, Sonnet said “limited opportunities … to grow profitably in the current auto insurance operating environment in Alberta were a key consideration in making this decision.”

Paul MacDonald, Sonnet executive vice-president for personal insurance, said in a statement the company “will continue to focus its efforts to profitably grow its auto insurance business in other regions in Canada.”

Justin Brattinga, Alberta’s treasury board and finance press secretary, said in a statement to CTV News Edmonton the ministry is “working on long-term reforms to make sure Albertans have access to affordable insurance and to stabilize and sustain the auto insurance industry.”

“Alberta’s insurance market, like any free market, is frequently subject to shifts,” Brattinga said. “To date, Sonnet and S&Y (a subsidiary of Aviva) are the only companies to have withdrawn, representing about 1% of the vehicles in Alberta.”

An survey on auto insurance taken by 16,000 people in the province closed June 26, the results of which are now under ministry analysis.