Topic
Catastrophes
What’s making it harder to estimate property Cat claims
February 17, 2021 by Greg MeckbachRecent price increases in building materials means it is harder than normal to predict the cost of repairing property damage, restoration experts say. Restoration contractor Peak Services handled several thousand claims after the June 13, 2020, record hail storm in…
How COVID-19 has affected repair of vehicles from hail
February 12, 2021 by Greg MeckbachThe COVID-19 pandemic has created some barriers to repairing vehicle and property damage – including a shortage of auto body parts, and a labour shortage impacted by Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) recipients who are reluctant to return to work,…
ICLR’s Paul Kovacs honoured with lifetime achievement award
February 8, 2021 by David GambrillPaul Kovacs, executive director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR), has received the Joseph Scanlon Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Risk and Hazards Network (CRHNet). CRHNet is a not-for-profit organization established in 2003 to share hazards research…
Where Canada sits with high-risk flood insurance pool
February 3, 2021 by Greg MeckbachIndustry experts are trying to calculate how much it would cost to set up an insurance pool for homes at high risk of overland flood, an Insurance Bureau of Canada official suggests. Canada’s Task Force on Flood Insurance and Relocation…
Get ready for a ‘multi-year correction’ upwards in commercial insurance pricing
February 2, 2021 by Greg MeckbachDespite consecutive quarters of double-digit increases in specialty lines, commercial insurers are likely to continue raising your clients’ premiums even further in the coming years, a Bermuda insurance CEO warns. “While the pricing momentum we are seeing in both insurance…
Six reasons why commercial prices will probably continue rising
January 25, 2021 by Greg MeckbachDon’t expect a soft market for your commercial clients any time soon, executives with The Travelers Companies Inc. warn. Rates on renewal for business insurance were up 8.4% while rates in bond and specialty insurance increased by 12%, Travelers said…
Regulator’s pilot project to start scenario-testing for climate change risks
January 7, 2021 by David GambrillCanada’s solvency regulator has introduced a pilot project in 2021 to conduct scenario testing of the impact of various climate-related risks on financial institutions’ bottom lines. “The first step of the pilot project is to develop a Canada-relevant set of…
How Ottawa is trying to lower earthquake related property losses
December 7, 2020 by Greg MeckbachNatural Resources Canada is hoping to help insurers cut their loss costs with a yet-to-be released earthquake early warning system. The warning system could provide seconds to tens of seconds of warning before a location is affected by strong shaking,…
Wildfire damage is not like a Godzilla attack. Why that matters to Cat modellers
December 7, 2020 by Greg MeckbachA client’s structure can remain standing after a wildfire, even when other buildings in the same neighbourhood burn down, because dozens of factors affect a property’s risk, experts said Thursday during a webinar. “The interesting thing about wildfire is [that]…
Mother Nature’s wrath
December 7, 2020 Derek ClouthierAlberta continues to endure the most expensive insured weather events in Canada. What’s happening and what can be done about it?
The Alberta hail cat has not stopped biting
November 23, 2020 by Greg MeckbachInsurers are still receiving new claims from the June 2020 Alberta hail storm that is estimated to have cost the industry more than $1 billion. “We are actually still seeing some new losses reported from the June storm today,” said…
Today’s cat losses ‘unimaginable’ even 10 years ago: mutual CEO
November 12, 2020 by Greg MeckbachThe increase in cat losses over the past 10 years alone is high on the radar for Canada’s mutual insurers and has the industry calling for measures to help adapt properties to severe weather. “We have seen weather and wildfire…