Widespread fraud among ride-service drivers: MPI

Ride-service drivers in Winnipeg, Manitoba have been committing fraud by improperly insuring their vehicles as personal use, rather than as vehicle-for-hire, according to Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI). The fraud was uncovered after MPI conducted a review in December of last year, which found that 108 out of 408 randomly sampled ride-hailing vehicles were operating without the required insurance coverage.

The drivers were then changing their coverage to personal all-purpose or pleasure use policies, which are significantly cheaper.

MPI officials determined that the fraud was intentional. Between February and August of this year, they identified about 3,000 ride-service vehicles without proper insurance and prevented them from operating in the city. The city typically has between 4,000 to 5,000 registered ride-service vehicles.

Between December 2023 and February 2024, MPI found that about 1,200 policies carried insufficient coverage. This resulted in the public insurer being underpaid by approximately $260,000 in premiums during that period. Additionally, as many as 36 collision claims were filed by drivers without the proper vehicle-for-hire insurance, totaling $189,000 in claims.

MPI lawyers are currently considering how to recover the lost funds. The city of Winnipeg and MPI are working together to strengthen oversight in order to prevent similar instances of fraud from occurring in the future.