Views (September 01, 2006)

Disaster Kleenup International (Canada) Ltd. enjoyed a fun-filled night of fantastic fireworks and good food on July 6 at the second annual Wind * Water * FireWORKS Toronto harbour boat cruise. Cruising the Toronto Harbourfront on the Captain Matthew Flinders, members and guests enjoyed drinks, dinner, dancing and the spectacular fireworks display presented annually by Canada Dry Festival of Fire.

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Axion Insurance Group recently held its 9th Annual Axion Charity Challenge, where the Richmond Hill, Ontario-based brokerage celebrated its most successful event ever. The group raised CD$23,000 for “AbilityOnline.” Axion principals Donna Grabowski and Mike Teixeira said the charitable event is held solely to benefit AbilityOnLine, which is a free online community that provides support and friendship to children and youth with disabilities or illness. “These kids can make friends and receive support from mentors in this virtual world, and they don’t have to be afraid of being judged because of their differences,” Grabowski and Teixeira said. “The money we raise helps AbilityOnline to remain free to all. It has placed computer workstations in most of the major hospitals across Canada, so the kids can use AbilityOnline even when they have to be away from home.” Grabowski and Teixeira urge everyone to check out the charity at www.abilityonline.org. Axion sends a huge “thanks” out to the tournament sponsors for their generous support, and to all the golfers who helped to raise awareness and money for a worthwhile cause. Make sure you mark your calendar for next year’s special 10th anniversary event, which will be held June 28, 2007.

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MFX recently signed an exclusive deal with Toronto-based Munich Rein-surance Company of Canada to implement, manage and enhance Munich Re Canada’s current corporate primary insurance processing system. The 50-state property and casualty system, currently used by Munich Re Canada and insurers in the American Re group, combines Web-based policy administration with claims processing and accounting in one integrated package, providing a complete repository for corporate data. As part of MFX’s ASP offering, the system will be marketed throughout the U.S.A., Canada, Europe and Asia.

Originally developed by Munich Re Canada, the system is used by the reinsurer’s corporate policy administration system for primary business in Canada, as well as by its sister companies and MFX’s current customers – the insurers in the American Re group – in the US. The system processes all major commercial lines of business including general liability, workers’ compensation, package and umbrella, and handles many specialty lines such as boiler and machinery, and aviation. The application is fully Web-based, using Microsoft.NET and an Oracle back-end. The system is totally scalable and its flexible architecture allows for adding lines of business easily. System edits are contained in tables, simplifying the inevitable task of adding or changing business rules due to legislative changes or compliance needs. As an ASP, MFX would take responsibility for all data storage and security at one of its data centers located in the United States.

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A.M. Best Co. has introduced a new podcast series focused on insurance technology and the E-Fusion Conference. The audio series, called the E-Fusion Podcast, covers technology developments, conference dovetails and the E-Fusion awards. The first episode features an interview with Igor Best-Devereux, CEO of eReinsure, a working online risk-placement system. Each episode includes an interview with a technology leader associated with the E-Fusion conference, sceduled for Oct. 23 and 24 in Boston. The two-day conference focuses on developments in insurance technology, insurance issues and operations. Part of the conference involves finalists making presentations for the E-Fusion awards. The E-Fusion awards, which are independently judged, seek to recognize innovative uses of insurance technology. This is the second podcast series released by A.M. Best. The company began producing BestDay Audio, a daily podcast wrapping up insurance news worldwide, earlier this year. That podcast features insurance news and interviews. E-Fusion Program chairman Lee McDonald said the next podcast episode would focus on some of the new communications platforms insurers are using to reach their field force and customers. Links to listen to and subscribe to the E-Fusion podcast are available at www.efusion2006.com. To subscribe via a podcast client, visit http://feeds.feedburner.com/e-fusion2006.

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CARSTAR Automotive Canada signed a national agreement to utilize the claims portal SMART Insurance Technology, managed by CGI Insurance Business Services. CARSTAR’s 114 locations throughout Canada will now begin to receive assignments from SMART users. The SMART portal automates and streamlines the communication process between claim adjusters and other participants on a claim driving quality customer service and efficiencies. “We believe the SMART portal can provide significant value to our stakeholders and look forward to the value-added that CARSTAR’s participation can bring to SMART users nationwide.” said Larry Jefferies, executive vice president, CARSTAR Automotive Canada. By joining the portal, CARSTAR will now receive assignments more easily from SMART users according to Fred Silvestri, director, SMART Insurance Technology at CGI.

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