Topic Insurers
What an insurance solution for pandemic risk might look like
August 17, 2020 by Jason ContantThe P&C insurance industry has technical expertise it could bring to bear in covering future pandemics (risk management and claims adjustment experience, for example), but the financial losses would best be covered through public-private partnerships, speakers said recently during an…
Retiring CAMIC president reflects on the mutuals’ biggest issues over three decades
August 14, 2020 by Jason ContantAfter nearly three decades as the head of Canada’s national mutual insurance association, Normand Lafreniere, who announced his retirement recently, talked to Canadian Underwriter about his work on three major files — income tax reductions, demutualization, and limiting banks’ and…
Why the hard market reminds Fairfax CEO of 2001
August 14, 2020 by Greg MeckbachSteep price increases that have hit brokers’ commercial clients will not continue for the long term, but the current hard market is reminiscent of the period after Sept. 11, 2001, when two planes destroyed the World Trade Centre in New…
Insurer ordered to pay $21 million in interest on a $25-million court award
August 14, 2020 by David GambrillAn Ontario court has ordered FM Global to pay compound pre-judgment interest of US$14.8 million (about CAD$21 million) on a $25-million court award. The business interruption claim arose out of a 2009 leak at the Chalk River, Ont., nuclear reactor. Based…
Why A.M. Best sees the global reinsurance market as ‘stable’
August 13, 2020 by Jason ContantMonths into the COVID-19 pandemic, reinsurance industry observers are seeing a mixed forecast ahead and it’s too early to tell how the pandemic will affect rating actions, according to a recent A.M. Best webinar. “Obviously, the situation has gotten complicated…
Why it’s hard to make telematics ‘commercially viable’ in Canada
August 13, 2020 by Greg MeckbachIf regulators continue to prohibit auto insurers from imposing surcharges when they detect risky driving behaviour through telematics, it will be difficult for usage-based insurance to be commercially viable, an Aviva Canada data science expert suggests. “Telematics is a good…
Brokers urged to remind clients: Home policies won’t cover ‘pandemic pods’
August 13, 2020 by David GambrillAs schools across the country prepare for re-opening in September, skittish parents who are not in favour of in-class learning for their children are setting up so-called “pandemic pods” to home-school small groups of children in the home. But brokers…
Three reasons why the hard market may drag on for years
August 12, 2020 by Greg MeckbachCommercial clients are likely to see big price hikes at least through 2021 and the economic impact of COVID-19 is partly to blame, a Bermuda insurance executive suggests. “We saw double-digit rate increases in our Canadian specialty business,” Albert Benmichol, CEO…
The impact of Calgary’s hailstorm on North American H1 storm losses
August 11, 2020 by Jason ContantCanada’s costliest-ever hailstorm contributed to the largest insured losses in North America since the first half of 2011, according to preliminary natural catastrophe estimates from Swiss Re. The hailstorm that struck Calgary in June cost the industry $1.2 billion based…
National mutual association president Normand Lafreniere retires
August 10, 2020 by Jason ContantIndustry veteran Normand Lafreniere, president of the Canadian Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (CAMIC), is now officially retired. In a LinkedIn post Wednesday, Lafreniere said he will continue as a consultant for CAMIC over the next few weeks, pending the…
As provincial economies re-open, insurers eye their auto claims frequencies
August 10, 2020 by David GambrillAs if it weren’t enough with all of the recent news reports about natural catastrophe losses in Alberta, and claims against insurers for business interruption losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is another, more familiar risk looming on the…
Skills to promote change
August 9, 2020 by Greg Meckbach, Associate EditorAndy Taylor, Gore Mutual Insurance Company’s newly-minted president and CEO, reveals the soft skills required for a successful business transformation — and how to find them. – As told to Greg Meckbach To recruit talent capable of shepherding a…