Topic
Catastrophes
Water, Water Everywhere
November 1, 2013 Mary Kelly, Anne Kleffner and Norma NielsonFundamentally, water damage is not a peril ideally suited to be insured. That said, with the cost of water damage high and rising, the creation of a sustainable insurance coverage model requires the co-operation of insurers, personal property owners, reinsurers, regulators and governments.
Common Anomaly
November 1, 2013 Angela Stelmakowich, EditorIt has been a year since Sandy – an angry lady that slowed a bustling powerhouse of a region to a crawl before inspiring some quick rethinking about how best to prepare for hurricanes and the damaging water they inevitably…
Shaking Foundations
November 1, 2013 Angela Stelmakowich, EditorThere may be no way to predict when and where a major earthquake will hit in Canada – although British Columbia and the Ottawa to Quebec City corridor are as likely targets as any. But as it stands, the insurance industry (and maybe the country) is ill-prepared for such an event.
Weather Hardening Flood Insurance
November 1, 2013 Jason Thistlethwaite and Blair Feltmate, Climate Change Adaptation Project (Canada)New floodplain maps, weather-hardened infrastructure and homeowner engagement are needed to lower the risk to conventional flood insurance coverage. But the base of stakeholders involved also needs to be broadened to include all three levels of government, banks, builders, industry associations and homeowners.
Cat modeler launches new tool for Indonesia riot risk
October 31, 2013 by Canadian UnderwriterImpact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development arm of Aon Benfield, has launched a new tool for determining the potential financial impact of riots, based on an analysis of such a threat in Indonesia. The company says that understanding political dynamics…
Bipartisan gang of U.S. lawmakers push to delay big flood insurance premium increases
October 30, 2013 Andrew Taylor - THE ASSOCIATED PRESSWASHINGTON – A bipartisan group of lawmakers Tuesday unveiled legislation that would delay for about four years several changes to the federal government’s flood insurance program that are threatening to sock thousands of people with unaffordable premium hikes. The move…
U.S. companies urge President Obama to move forward with climate action plan, combat severe weather’s effect on supply chains
October 30, 2013 by Canadian UnderwriterTwenty major businesses in the United States – all of which rely on the stability of global supply chains for growth and profitability – took the one-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy as an opportunity to remind President Barack Obama and…
Study cautions that Canada not prepared for a major earthquake, both economic and insured costs would be significant
October 29, 2013 Angela Stelmakowich, EditorThere would be significant losses if modelled scenarios involving a 9.0-magnitude earthquake off the west coast of Vancouver Island and a 7.1-magnitude quake about 100 km northeast of Quebec City came to be, demonstrating the need for a national strategy…
Alberta introduces legislation to minimize future flood catastrophes
October 28, 2013 Dean Bennett - The Canadian PressEDMONTON – Premier Alison Redford’s government opened the fall sitting of the Alberta legislature Monday by introducing a bill to mitigate damage from floods like the one that ravaged parts of southern Alberta this summer. ”We know that we will…
Almost 140 flood warnings, alerts still in effect after major Atlantic storm hits U.K.
October 28, 2013 by Canadian UnderwriterA total of 139 flood warnings or alerts remained in place Monday morning in the United Kingdom as a major Atlantic storm, bringing with it strong winds and rainfall, continued to make its way through the U.K. There were a…
Australian government says climate change is not causing latest wildfires after record heat
October 25, 2013 Rod McGuirk, THE ASSOCIATED PRESSCANBERRA, Australia – The government staunchly rejected arguments that climate change is causing the wildfires ravaging parts of eastern Australia following a record hot start to the spring season. “That is complete hogwash,” Prime Minister Tony Abbott told News Corp.…
Quebec rail victims could begin to see compensation in mid 2014: U.S. trustee
October 22, 2013 THE CANADIAN PRESSMONTREAL – The U.S. bankruptcy trustee overseeing the insolvent railway involved in July’s deadly explosion in Lac-Megantic, Que., says he hopes to begin distributing “meaningful” compensation to victims in mid-2014. Robert Keach said he hopes to allocate the $25 million…