Average personal auto premiums drop in Q3 2021; personal property up

Personal auto premium average dropped 2.7% in 2021’s third quarter compared with the same period a year ago but rose 9.4% when compared to second quarter 2021, according to the latest Applied Rating Index, which reports Canada-wide personal auto and property insurance premium trends.

For personal property premium, the Q3 2021 average increased 4.9% versus the same quarter one year ago. And personal property premium average increased 1.2% against Q2 2021, tech vendor Applied Systems said in a press release Thursday.

So, on a quarter-over-quarter basis, premium rate change increased for both personal auto and personal property lines.

“Our data indicates that the personal auto market, while softening relative to prior year, is tightening given the quarter-to-quarter increases,” said Steve Whitelaw, Applied’s vice president and general manager. “The personal property market continues to show hardening as rates keep trending upwards.”

Ontario and the Atlantic provinces saw year-over-year personal auto premium rate change decreases of 4.5% and 2.3% respectively. Quebec and Alberta experienced year-over-year premium rate change increases of 1.9% and 3.0% respectively.

And, compared to the prior quarter, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces saw personal auto premium increases of 3.0%, 9.7%, 4.8% and 5.6% respectively.

As for personal property, all provinces saw increases in average premium year over year, except for Quebec, which saw a moderate 0.9% decrease year-over-year.

Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Manitoba (together), and the Atlantic provinces saw year-over-year personal property premium increases of 10.3%, 7.8%, 3.6%, 7.0% and 5.2% respectively.

Feature image by iStock.com/Olena Poliakevych