Manitoba Public Insurance will soon offer an independent Claim Dispute Tribunal to offer an expedited appeals process.

MPI spokesman Brian Smiley says it's not something that will be used often, but it is an important program to have.

"There are not a lot of customers that will be affected by this. We don't have a lot of customers escalating their settlements. For the most part, it's all done at the adjuster level." says Smiley. "What it will mean, the Claim Dispute Tribunal will bring faster resolution to both physical damage claim issues and liability issues."

MPI staff will let claimants know when a decision if eligible for the CDT. They anticipate the CDT will tackle approximately 700 applications per year.

"If someone gets into a collision, they're found to be 100 percent at fault, and they don't agree with that, they can currently appeal it right now internally," says Smiley. "If the decision is still not to their satisfaction, they can then take it to small claims court. The CDT will hopefully be an alternative to those customers, and they will choose the CDT as opposed small claims court process."

MPI wants to treat all customers with respect and this will be an efficient process for them to appeal.

"It's important for the customers that they have some settlement on their claim. We know that in some situations, claims can get very complicated. They can certainly bog down, in terms of the decision-making process," says Smiley. "Once the application is accepted by the CDT, the independent adjudicator will give a decision within 90 days upon receipt of the application."

Crown Services Minister Jeff Wharton announced the CDT program on Thursday. The province expects it will be up and running by late 2020.