Topic Business Interruption
Small businesses continue to be hard-hit by rising premiums this year, CFIB reports
September 24, 2021 by Jason ContantInsurance has become the top operating cost concern for small businesses, with seven in 10 reporting their premiums have increased since the beginning of the year, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) reported. The ongoing hard commercial insurance market,…
Business interruption class action against Aviva Canada now fully certified in Ontario
September 17, 2021 by Greg MeckbachAn Ontario manufacturer shuts down its factory for several weeks in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Factory managers re-configure the facility to allow workers to socially distance. Can that manufacturer get business insurance coverage if its policy wording…
How the hail peril is changing
September 8, 2021 by Jason ContantOnce confined mostly to “hail alley” regions such as south and central Alberta, Texas and Colorado, hailstorms are now doing damage across North America in plenty of regions considered low-risk, says a new white paper from RIMS, the risk management…
The ‘Triple A’s’ to successfully navigate your company through the pandemic
September 7, 2021 by Jason ContantThe ‘Triple As’ of strategic agility — avoid, absorb and accelerate — are distinct ways that successful companies navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent blog from Harvard Business Review. Companies such as Airbnb that not just survived by…
Ontario court certifies class-action against insurers related to COVID-19
September 1, 2021 by The Canadian PressTORONTO – Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice has certified a class-action lawsuit against fourteen insurance companies that denied business interruption claims related to COVID-19. The class action, launched by several small businesses including a suit store, a smoothie shop and…
How Lloyd’s Canada says the industry can better prepare for the next time a pandemic causes business interruption
August 9, 2021 by Greg MeckbachLloyd’s is talking to Canadian government authorities about how business interruption risk, arising from a pandemic, can be transferred in the future. “In Canada, Lloyd’s has talked to the federal finance department and different provincial government regulators,” Lloyd’s Canada president…
How Fairfax is reserving for COVID-19 business interruption reinsurance charges
August 4, 2021 by Greg MeckbachThe uncertainty around business interruption insurance coverage and the impact of a United Kingdom Supreme Court are among the reasons Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings has put aside more than US$80 million this year in COVID-19 reserves. Fairfax reported July 29…
UFO sightings: Are your clients covered for an alien invasion?
June 24, 2021 by David GambrillRecent talk about UFOs during the pandemic has caused the most conspiratorial among us to wonder if Canada’s property and casualty insurance industry is prepared for the most secretive of risks: An alien invasion of Earth. Film footage has emerged…
‘Unavoidable delay’ lease clause does not mean retailer can delay paying rent during lockdown: Court
June 21, 2021 by Greg MeckbachHudson’s Bay Company cannot use an “unavoidable delay” clause in a mall lease agreement to stop paying rent to the landlord during the COVID-19 pandemic, a B.C. Supreme Court judge has ruled. COVID-19 was declared a pandemic on March 11,…
Insurers faced with barrage of COVID-19 coverage disputes
June 3, 2021 by Greg MeckbachMore than a dozen coverage disputes arising from business interruption from lockdowns and restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic are making their way through Ontario courts. Law firm McCarthy Tetrault has served 17 individual statements of claim with the Ontario Superior…
Coverage that you should be discussing with your commercial clients
May 17, 2021 by Adam MalikBrokers exploring new ways to protect their commercial clients should be making “malicious attack” coverage part of the conversation, a risk expert advises. But it can be a tricky conversation for brokers to have. Clients may think they can’t afford…
Port of Montreal volumes fall for first time in seven years due to pandemic, strikes
May 3, 2021 by The Canadian PressMONTREAL – The COVID-19 pandemic, a dockworkers strike and a rail blockage hit the Port of Montreal, which saw its cargo volumes fall in 2020 for the first time in seven years. The port says its volumes fell 14 per…