As a result of the current financial crisis, Celent is predicting insurers’ IT budgets will be flat in 2009 (compared to 2008), despite downward pressure for the next 12 to 24 months, at least.In its latest report, ‘Bad News on…
The Quebec Court of Appeal has found that the “Extra Care Protection” contract of a vehicle manufacturer is a warranty, not an insurance contract, thus reversing a lower court decision that found the opposite.In making its decision in the Automobile…
Michael Donoghue, president and CEO of Allstate Canada, has announced his retirement. Chris Kiah, assistant field vice president in the southeast region for Allstate Corporation, will take over the role. Donoghue and Kiah will work together through the transition until…
**CLARIFICATION** PartnerRe was earlier reported to have predicted an industry combined ratio of between 95-96%, when in fact the company was predicting its own combined ratio. PartnerRe Ltd. (NYSE: PRE) predicts its 2008 Q3 combined ratio (COR) will be 95-96%,…
Saskatchewan non-life insurers saw their loss ratios increase 6.4% in 2007, according to statistics recently released by the provincial insurance regulator.In total, Saskatchewan’s non-life insurance industry showed a loss ratio of 64.8% in 2007, up from 60.9% in 2006.Hail insurance…
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) posted a consultation paper on Oct. 6 that suggests the implementation of a regulatory framework for credit rating agencies, based on the recent controversy surrounding the asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) market. The proposed regime “would…
Jon Schubert has been appointed president and CEO of the Insurance Corporation of B.C. (ICBC), effective mid-November.He is currently the president and CEO of Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI). Schubert worked at SGI for 23 years before venturing forward to run…
American International Group, Inc. (AIG)’s domestic life insurance subsidiaries have borrowed approximately US$37.2 billion from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The New York Fed will borrow investment grade fixed income securities from these AIG subsidiaries in exchange for…
In a lawsuit involving “mixed claims,” some of which are insured under a policy and some of which are not, the costs of defending a lawsuit should be apportioned between an insurer and an insured based on the operative language…
BFL Canada and Kansas City-based Lockton have formed an alliance to serve clients in North America. BFL Canada is Canada’s largest independent commercial insurance broker and Lockton is the world’s largest privately held insurance broker, according to a news release…
The cascading financial services crisis in the United States has risk managers bracing for a hard market, although some suggest the crisis may actually prolong the current soft market, participants of a Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) Webinar heard.Janice…
Allianz SE will provide a US$2.5-billion capital investment in The Hartford Financial Services Group, purchasing roughly a quarter of Hartford’s outstanding common shares. In a second-quarter filing to the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), The Hartford reported having slightly more…