Canadian Underwriter

Topic Catastrophes

A helicopter carrying water flies over heavy smoke from an out-of-control fire in a suburban community outside of Halifax.
News CatastrophesClaimsCommercialEnvironmentalInsurersPersonal AutoPersonal Home

How much Intact paid in second quarter Cat losses

July 13, 2023 by Alyssa DiSabatino

Intact Financial Corporation saw an estimated $335 million in catastrophe losses in Canada for the second quarter of 2023, the insurer revealed in a release.  Comparatively, the company handled over a million claims and paid out over $10 billion globally in

Thermometer in the sky, the heat
News CatastrophesClaimsEmerging RisksInsurers

OSFI calls for detailed reporting of insurers’ climate risks

July 12, 2023 by David Gambrill

Canada’s solvency regulator has published its draft Climate Risk Returns for federally regulated P&C insurance companies, proposing in detail how insurers should be calculating any real and potential climate risks on their books. The forms were created in partnership between

Donnie Creek wildfire in B.C.
News CatastrophesClaimsClaims Canada ArchiveEnvironmentalPersonal Home

Record-breaking wildfire season will continue to burn hot for months: officials

July 6, 2023 by The Canadian Press

OTTAWA – Natural Resources Canada says the country’s record-breaking wildfire season will continue to be abnormally intense throughout July and into August. The projections are based on anticipated high temperatures, dry conditions and historical comparisons. The risk is expected to

A helicopter carrying water flies over heavy smoke from an out-of-control fire in a suburban community outside of Halifax.
News CatastrophesClaimsInsurersNova Scotia

What the Nova Scotia wildfire cost the P&C industry

July 5, 2023 by David Gambrill

Nova Scotia’s Tantallon wildfire is estimated to have caused more than $165 million in insured damage, according to initial estimates from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ). Nearly 90% of all claims related to the Nova Scotia wildfire were personal

3D render and image composing: Topographic Map of Canada. Including country borders, rivers and accurate longitude/latitude lines.
News AlbertaB.C.BrokersCatastrophesClaimsCommercialEmerging RisksEnvironmentalInsurersManitobaNew BrunswickNewfoundland & LabradorNova ScotiaNunavutNWTOntarioP.E.I.Personal HomePropertySaskatchewanYukon

Brokers, insurers differ on the value of numerous flood products for home owners

July 4, 2023 by Alyssa DiSabatino

Canada’s property and casualty insurance brokers have long maintained the need for a unified flood map, but insurers want to compete on their proprietary flood maps, and the ongoing differences between brokers and their insurance partners on this point became

Economic and geopolitical risks have insurers walking a tightrope in 2023
News BrokersCatastrophesCommercialCommercial AutoConstructionEmerging RisksPersonal AutoPersonal HomePropertyTrusted Advisor

Despite easing inflation, P&C insurers face challenges

June 27, 2023 by Philip Porado

Canada’s May inflation rate slipped to an annualized 3.4%, Statistics Canada said Tuesday. That’s the lowest rate in two years and solidly below the 4.4% annual rate posted in April. It’s also in line with the Bank of Canada’s efforts

Unrecognizable male putting fuel dispenser in tank while refueling vehicle on self service gas station.
News Business InterruptionCatastrophesClaimsCommercialEmerging RisksInsurersLoss TrendsRisk ManagersSupply ChainTrending

Reserve uncertainty could sustain hard market: Swiss Re

June 26, 2023 by David Gambrill

Ongoing reserve uncertainty may reduce insurers’ risk appetite, thereby sustaining hard market conditions, according to a new report by Swiss Re. “Direct non-life insurers in advanced markets have on average released prior-year loss reserves, although the pace has been slowing

Stressed workers rushing around
News BrokersCatastrophesClaimsEmerging RisksInsurers

How brokers can do a much better job of servicing clients

June 23, 2023 by Alyssa DiSabatino

Canada’s property and casualty insurance industry is doing a better job of client education generally, but organizations of all sizes can do a “much better job” of putting the client first, said one expert during the Young Brokers Conference in

A worker crosses past damage from a wildfire in Hammond's Plains, N.S., during a media tour, Tuesday, June 6, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/POOL, Tim Krochak
News AdjustersAlbertaB.C.BrokersCatastrophesClaimsCommercialEmerging RisksEnvironmentalInsurersPersonal HomeProperty

Here’s what adjuster capacity is like for Canada’s wildfires

June 12, 2023 by Alyssa DiSabatino

Firefighters and other first responders have been stretched thin while battling an unprecedented wildfire season in Canada, and such may be the case for claims adjuster capacity as well. Across the industry, it’s a mixed bag of how quickly adjusters

Wildfire smoke over Gatineau, Que.
News CatastrophesEmerging RisksEnvironmental

Feds looking to create national emergency response agency

June 9, 2023 by Sarah Ritchie - THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA – The federal government is looking at creating some kind of national disaster response agency in the face of an unusually intense and destructive start to the wildfire season across the country. At the moment, federal departments including Emergency

Wildfires releasing CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases
News CatastrophesClaimsEnvironmentalLoss ControlPersonal HomeQuebec

More evacuations in Quebec as record breaking fires continue to burn

June 8, 2023 by Sidhartha Banerjee and Jacob Serebrin

MONTREAL — Quebec’s wildfire season, which has forced thousands from their homes and left other communities on high alert, is the worst on record, officials said Wednesday. Premier Francois Legault told reporters in Quebec City that the areas in the

Forest fire burning in Nova Scotia
News AdjustersCatastrophesClaimsClaims Canada ArchiveClaims ProfessionalsEnvironmentalNova ScotiaPersonal Home

What makes the Halifax wildfire so unique

May 29, 2023 by Jason Contant

Nova Scotia is no stranger to wildfire, but the out-of-control blaze burning in suburban Halifax is unique in its aggressiveness, Glenn McGillivray, managing director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction told Canadian Underwriter Monday.  As of Monday afternoon, an