Saskatchewan Government Insurance tabled their 2019-2020 annual reports on Thursday morning in Regina in what they call a year when they remained financially stable and reached an important milestone.
Net income for SGI Canada was at $49.9 million with a loss of $4,361 in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year. It’s not far off from their 2018-2019 result of $48 million.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister responsible for SGI Joe Hargrave noted that the SGI Auto Fund remains in a strong, financial position thanks to key factors like a well-diversified investment portfolio.
He said it has been a contributor in keeping rates low for Saskatchewan people.
“I don’t see any increase in premiums this year at all,” stated Hargrave. “We have sort of survived the COVID-19 downslide in our investment market, and now it has shown some recovery in the first quarter of this year.”
While Hargrave said they are not expecting any dramatic increases in premiums, he does believe there will be a decline on the automotive side for a temporary time.
“As you can see out there, more cars are back on the street as there were at the end of March or the first part of April when a lot of people had to de-insure their vehicles because they weren’t driving them,” mentioned the minsiter. “They just kept some vandalism or theft insurance on them. But things are getting back to normal.”
For claims, Hargrave expects those numbers will be fairly normal by the end of the current fiscal year.
As has been a common theme among the Crowns this week during their annual reports, SGI has given the province a snapshot of how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the company. From having over 90 per cent of employees working from home since late March, to the uncertainty of their financials heading into the coming fiscal year.
The company noted in their report that investment markets are beginning the long climb back to pre-COVID-19 levels, however it’s a path which will “likely be volatile.”
“Insurance companies have large investment portfolios and this volatility will impact the strength of the company’s balance sheet and, in SGI Canada’s case, net income,” reads the report.
SGI’s report also discussed important milestones for the SGI Auto Fund. Among those records were the lowest amount of deaths and injuries in one year on Saskatchewan roads and introducing tougher penalties for residents caught distracted driving.
Despite these positive feats, Hargrave said there are still some people who are not getting the message.
“We did see through the pandemic, very unfortunately, that the number of impaired driving offences was still high,” he added. “So we know that there are still people out there driving [under the influence].”
He said SGI will continue to work on providing more education to the public through initiatives, social media and other opportunities.
Other highlights for the SGI Auto Fund include over $889 million in claims, nearly $963 million in gross premiums written and over $29 million in net storm claims.
The annual reports for the SGI Auto Fund and SGI Canada can be viewed at their websites.
