Car Replacement
Basic Autopac covers replacement transportation in three situations:
- When your vehicle is stolen. Your Basic Autopac insurance covers you, but there is a 72-hour waiting period after the theft before replacement transportation will be covered.
- When another Autopac-insured driver was at fault for damaging your vehicle in a collision. Here, you claim against the other driver's liability insurance. In this case, you must minimize costs and only use replacement transportation if there are no other options. If you own another vehicle that you can drive, coverage would not apply.
- When you have Manitoba Public Insurance's Extension Loss of Use coverage.
Covering these three situations achieves a good balance between protection and the premiums we have to charge. If you have to rent a vehicle, we pay for daily rental charges and taxes but not gas, mileage, collision damage waivers (CDW) or personal accident waivers (PAI).
Minimizing the costs of replacement transportation:
- Use less expensive transportation, like public transportation, when possible.
- Rent the least expensive type and size of vehicle needed for temporary transportation, if you must rent a vehicle.
- Consider a rental company with membership in the Manitoba Car and Truck Rental Association (MCTRA). Manitoba Public Insurance and MCTRA have agreed on reasonable rental charges for different types and sizes of rental vehicles. Plus, these rental companies can bill Manitoba Public Insurance directly for your rental (with pre-approval from Manitoba Public Insurance, certain restrictions apply)
- Use your vehicle until your body shop has the parts on hand to do the repairs, provided your vehicle is safe to drive.
- Ask your body shop how long the repairs will take and then check with your adjuster to confirm that the time frame is reasonable.
- Try to get your vehicle into the repair shop early enough in the week so that you don't have to leave it over a weekend.
- Start to look for another vehicle if it's clear yours is a write-off. Don't wait for your settlement to start looking.
Commercial Claims:
Our Commercial Claims department handles losses involving heavy vehicles and specialized equipment.
Examples of the types of vehicles adjusted at Commercial Claims include:
- Highway tractor over 9,000 kgs/ semi-trailers buses vehicles with primary insurance coverage under Special Risk Extension trucks with specialized equipment (cement mixers, garbage packers, cherry pickers, etc.)
- All heavy and specialized vehicles are handled through the Commercial Claims, so the adjusters are familiar with the various types of equipment and the policies they require.