TRALA has been working for several years now to receive this ability.  Similar to the fight for vicarious liability reform in Canada, this issue must be dealt with province to province as insurance is a provincial responsibility in Canada. TRALA has focused much of its efforts on the three prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. After a number of back and forth negotiations as well as a few road blocks, finally real progress has been made with Manitoba.

 

The key portions of the law which are of interest to TRALA members have an effective date of Jan 1, 2015. The process of becoming licensed, which vehicle rental firms must do, is still being developed by the Manitoba Insurance Council. It has been determined that licenses will be effective June 1, 2015. This gives all interested sellers and the Manitoba government time between Jan 1 and June 1 to complete the license applications and prepare materials and training  to be ready to start selling on June 1, 2015.

 

The initial version of the amendments to what the government calls the restricted insurance agent license regime was released in early December of 2013 and finally adopted into law last week. The changes state companies that rent vehicles to the public are eligible for a restricted license and under that licence they may sell, cargo insurance, rental vehicle accidental injury or death insurance, contents insurance and liability insurance.

 

This is the most comprehensive model for the sale of insurance by vehicle rental companies in Canada.  TRALA's goal from the beginning has been to introduce the Manitoba law as a model to all other provinces in the same way that TRALA did with vicarious liability. 

 

Manitoba wrote the new regulations in consultation with Saskatchewan and Alberta insurance regulators so TRALA believes having these two provinces adopt the changes will be our first step in the country-wide approach.

 

If you have any questions, please contact Jake Jacoby at jjacoby@trala.org or at 703-299-9120.