Financial stability. Those two words sum up the story told by the 2018-2019 financial and operational highlights for both the Saskatchewan Auto Fund and SGI CANADA, which were tabled in the provincial legislature today.
The Saskatchewan Auto Fund is the self-sustaining, compulsory auto insurance plan administered by SGI on behalf of the province. As part of its mandate, the Auto Fund also works toward making Saskatchewan’s roads safer for everyone who uses them.
“Saskatchewan residents now enjoy, on average, the lowest overall personal vehicle insurance rates in Canada,” Minister Responsible for SGI Joe Hargrave said. “Our government and the Auto Fund remain committed to a continued focus on traffic safety, and a number of initiatives implemented over the past year will make Saskatchewan’s roads safer for everyone who uses them.”
Auto Fund highlights for 2018-2019 include:
• $894.9 million in claims
• $956.5 million in gross premium written
• $149.1 million in discounts to customers through the Safe Driver Recognition (SDR) and Business Recognition programs
• $26.2 million net storm claims
• $135.8 million in investment earnings, increasing the Auto Fund’s rate stabilization reserve by $77 million
• New impaired driving legislation took effect
• Implemented new mandatory training standards for commercial semi drivers
• Introduced ride-sharing to Saskatchewan, providing people another safe alternative to impaired driving
• Announced photo speed enforcement would now be permanent, with proceeds funding a new traffic safety grant program for communities
SGI CANADA is the competitive side of SGI’s operations, selling property and casualty insurance in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and British Columbia. In 2018-2019, SGI CANADA continued to be in a stable financial position, which was the result of progress on long-term goals of growth and geographic diversification.
“I’m very proud of how this Saskatchewan-based company continues to earn profits and achieve growth in an industry where it competes with many national and international insurers,” Hargrave said.
Highlights for SGI CANADA in 2018-2019 include:
• $48 million profit, with a return on equity of 9.8 per cent pre-tax
• $12.5 million dividend to Crown Investments Corporation
• 13.4 per cent premium growth (outperforming the industry average of approximately 6.7 per cent), with premium growth both inside and outside Saskatchewan
• $53.4 million in investment earnings
• $919.4 million in premiums written, including $371.4 million (40.4 per cent) written outside Saskatchewan, achieving SGI CANADA’s goal of 40 per cent one year ahead of target
• $39.8 million in storm claims (all provinces)
• more than 940,000 customers across Canada
• 76 per cent combined customer CXi score, (the number of customers who found SGI / SGI CANADA effective at meeting their needs and easy to do business with) which is the highest in Canada for home and auto insurers
• launched commercial lines products under the SGI CANADA banner in Ontario
• launched a new line of coverage, CyberOne and Data Compromise, to protect business owners in all provinces SGI CANADA serves against the growing threat of cyber attacks and data breaches
