Topic Insurers
How brokerage mergers could create tax benefits
January 15, 2024 by Philip PoradoTax filing season is on the horizon, which means it’s time for Canadian brokerages and insurance companies to consider how they’ll treat GST, HST or QST payments, Yakoob Vayani, a partner at KPMG in Canada in Indirect Tax, Advisory, told…
What do your insurance clients actually need? Ask them
January 15, 2024 by Alyssa DiSabatinoThe first step to conducting research on customer needs is to ask, rather than assume, what your customers want, suggested Robin Shufelt, CEO at First Acre Insurance — a new farming MGA. Yet, despite the insurance industry investing nearly…
Regulators watching how broker sales tied to compensation
January 12, 2024 by David GambrillCanada’s insurance regulators are paying close attention to how insurers are assessing the performance of their sales force and/or linking broker compensation to the fair treatment of consumers. In particular, they are monitoring whether brokers are being assessed using purely…
Ten per cent of country’s insured losses in Alberta alone
January 12, 2024 by Alyssa DiSabatinoFor all the smoke, fire and flood that happened across Canada this year, damage to property in Alberta alone exceeded $330 million, according to estimates from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ). That’s nearly 10% of all insured losses across…
Can higher lodging costs cut restoration losses?
January 12, 2024 by Philip PoradoInsurers looking to reduce home restoration claims costs should find ways to avoid tearing out walls, flooring, rugs, trim and other major construction components. One insurer’s launched a program to do just that. The approach will lead to a “1%…
Is sports liability case headed to Canada’s top court?
January 11, 2024 by David GambrillA “dangerous” sporting play causing injury to another player — even if the move was permitted within the rules of play — can give rise to sports negligence liability, the B.C. Court of Appeal has affirmed. The decision points to…
What the industry learned from a 20-year-old wildfire
January 11, 2024 by Jason ContantThe devastation of British Columbia’s Okanagan Mountain Park wildfire in 2003 was unlike anything Janna Smart had adjusted before. “It was full of raw emotion, chaos, destruction, and limited experience in handling a wildfire in a densely populated area. It…
Return-to-office and flexibility: can they coexist?
January 11, 2024 by Alyssa DiSabatinoP&C leaders may be able to bring staff back into the office without sacrificing the flexibility their employees want. In fact, the key to getting ‘return to office’ right is an organization’s ability to draw workers back to their desks,…
What’s at risk if the national flood insurance program stalls
January 10, 2024 by Alyssa DiSabatinoInsurers will need to be informed about their role in the national flood insurance program by Spring 2024 if it’s to be operational before the next federal election, an Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) executive tells Canadian Underwriter. The…
How a client’s address change came back to bite his auto insurer
January 9, 2024 by David GambrillIf an auto insurer wants to prove an insured “intentionally” failed to inform it of a move, the insurer should be prepared to provide detailed logs, transcripts or recordings of the conversations the claimant had with the broker, Ontario’s Licence…
What private equity clients can expect in 2024
January 8, 2024 by Alyssa DiSabatinoPrivate equity deal volume is expected to rebound in 2024 after slowing last year, and that means your PE clients can expect to see their insurance rates — particularly for liability and indemnity (D&O and R&W) — decrease or flatten…
Regulator seeks industry feedback on AI, quantum computing
January 5, 2024 by Jason ContantCanada’s financial services supervisory regulator is seeking input from federally regulated financial institutions (FRFIs) on how they are adopting artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) into their operations. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) and the Financial Consumer…