Moves & Views (January 01, 2010)

1 In the most recent Canadian Underwriter online poll, readers were asked: Should insurance companies be allowed to use policyholders’ credit scores as a factor in underwriting auto, home and commercial insurance? The majority, 64.16%, said ‘no,’ while 35.84% of respondents said ‘yes.’

2 CNA Canada has appointed Gary Owcar president and chief operating officer. Owcar is responsible for executing profitable growth strategies in the global insurer’s Canadian operations. He entered the insurance industry straight from university and began his career in the claims side of the business, progressing through supervisory and management positions. He took on his first international assignment in Brazil for the Chubb Corporation in 1982. Over the next 27 years, he held senior field management positions in Asia, Europe and the United States. He worked with CNA from 1999 to 2006, holding senior management positions in the Chicago home office, running global operations and all commercial lines underwriting.

3 Aviva Canada Inc. has posted on YouTube its Top 25 finalists for the first-ever Aviva Community Fund contest. Aviva is putting up $500,000 to help fund ideas that seek to lead, empower and support positive change in Canadian communities. Eight weeks into the online contest, the 25 most popular entries across the country were selected from among more than 2,000 contest entries. A panel of impartial judges will assess the finalists’ ideas based on their feasibility and cost. The winners of the Aviva Community Fund competition will be announced on Jan. 25, 2010. The finalists are included in a YouTube video montage called ‘Meet The Finalists-Aviva Community Fund’ posted at: www.youtube.com/user/avivacommunityfund

4 Cunningham Lindsey has launched Cunningham Lindsey Research Services (CLRS). CLRS provides intelligence gathering, special investigations and surveillance services to assist in the adjudication of insurance claims. “From researching background information and verifying details, to gathering video surveillance and conducting interviews, the services provided by this inhouse unit are done so with an objective perspective of each file,” a Cunningham Lindsey release says. Martin Maylor will serve as director of the unit. He brings more than 20 years experience investigating claims for both life and health and property and casualty industries in Canada, the United States and across Europe.

5 The CIP Society has selected Carla Blackmore as the 2009 recipient of the Greater Toronto Area Fellow of Distinction Award. Blackmore is a retired director of commercial programs with Zurich Canada. The award was created to recognize outstanding achievement in the insurance industry in Toronto. Colleagues nominate insurance professionals for The Fellow of Distinction Award, which is presented annually to a Fellow Chartered Insurance Professional (FCIP). Blackmore worked at Zurich for more than 30 years in a number of different capacities, including underwriting, branch and unit management, sales and marketing programs. Outside of Zurich, Blackmore is involved with the Insurance Institute both in the areas of teaching and furthering its reputation, most recently as the chair of the CIP Society-Ontario Council. She is well-known for her charity work, having been a director of Women in Insurance Cancer Crusade (WICC)-Ontario since 2001 and a co-chair of the Starlight Insurance Gala since 2007. Thanks in part to her donation of personal time and management skills, some $6.4 million has been raised for charity.

6 McLarens Canada has announced two executive level appointments. Dennis N. Schembri [6a] has been promoted to executive vice president of Eastern Canada for McLarens Canada. Donald N. Hull [6b] has been promoted to vice president of the Ontario region for McLarens Canada. Schembri has 26 years of experience, having worked as a branch manager for a major independent adjusting firm before founding and operating Vanler Insurance Adjusters Ltd., an Ontario- based independent adjusting firm. Vanler has about 50 employees and offices in Mississauga, Hamilton, Markham, London, Sudbury and Ottawa. McLarens acquired Vanler Insurance Adjusters in September 2007. Schembri will be responsible for assisting the Ontario and Eastern Canada vice presidents in enhancing customer satisfaction and growing their regions. Hull, during his 36-year career, has held director and senior executive positions for an international claims company, both in Canada and internationally. A past president of the Canadian Independent Adjusters’ Association, Hull holds the ‘Chartered Loss Adjuster’ designation. He will be responsible for assisting claims managers, examiners and risk managers in reducing claims losses and optimizing customer satisfaction.

7 The Alberta Insurance Council will award two annual scholarships in insurance education at Grant MacEwan University and the University of Calgary. Both schools offer programs to students planning a career in insurance and will determine the award recipients. Both students will receive $2,000 to go towards their studies in their chosen insurance program.

8 CARSTAR owners Paul Appleman of Port Hope and Dennis Carlini of Windsor each carried the Olympic torch in the Vancouver 2010 Torch Relay. Appleman has been organizing charitable runs in his local community for the past 28 years. To date, he has helped to raise nearly $1 million.

9 Aviva Canada will interface its broker portal with Applied Systems’ WARP to allow brokers easier access to the insurer’s portal. The new functionality is now available for all Aviva personal lines business transacted in Ontario, Western Canada and Atlantic Canada regions. By interfacing with WARP, “Aviva is giving its broker partners who use TAM (the Agency Manager) quick and easy access to its portal,” an Aviva release says. WARP is “a bridging solution” that connects users of TAM to insurance company systems. For the Aviva implementation, the WARP technology connects brokers to the Aviva Portal and the Aviva Document Management System, where they can process policy inquiries and manual endorsements.

10 The Insurance Brokers of Ontario (IBAO) and the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) have teamed up for the 2009-10 hockey season to sponsor the OMHA Participant Guide. “IBAO is extremely proud and delighted to support the OMHA and the publishing of this annual participant guide,” IBAO CEO Randy Carroll said in a release. “Our broker members understand very clearly the value of developing skills and perfecting strengths in order to be true professionals and ultimately be the best in all you do. That’s why we believe the OMHA Participant Guide is an excellent tool to better educate hockey parents and players and assist them with understanding the many facets of the game of hockey and community.”

11 A new application by Summit Mobile Services provides users with access to services required if they are ever involved in an accident. Help I Crashed My Car provides the user with a one-click, automated emergency communication system that contacts up to three family members or friends, the insurance company, the insurance agent and the preferred body shop. It will even send the body shop a map of the accident location using GPS location technology. The application also provides an accident report and the ability to take photos at the scene of the accident, which can be sent to the insurance company and body shop. The application is currently available for download, according to a spokesperson at Summit Mobile Solutions, Inc.