Canadian Underwriter

Topic Legal

Ambulance toy wooden block and alarm clock on blue background. Emergency healthcare medical concept.
News AdjustersClaimsInsurersLegalNova ScotiaPersonal Auto

Why this auto claim can proceed 2 years after the limit expired

May 9, 2023 by David Gambrill

Nova Scotia’s Supreme Court recently allowed an auto liability claim to proceed four years after the collision happened, and two years after the time limit for making a claim had expired. The delay was based mainly on the claimants’ lawyer

Purchasing cannabis with a credit card
News CannabisClaimsClaims Canada ArchiveCommercialInsurersLegalLiabilityLoss TrendsMergers and AqcuisitionsMGAsSupply Chain

How is the cannabis insurance market faring? 

May 9, 2023 by Jason Contant

Four-and-a-half years after recreational marijuana use was legalized in Canada, cannabis companies continue to face a number of challenges, including insolvency, consolidation and low or flat growth, according to a recent report from EY Canada. “Established/mature markets — including Canada,

mediator or brokerage vector icon on dark
News BrokersInsurersLegalOperationsRisk ManagersTechnology

How OSFI wants P&C insurers to manage their third-party risks

May 8, 2023 by David Gambrill

Canada’s financial solvency regulator has published its final revised guideline for managing risks associated with third-party contracts and arrangements, having addressed industry concerns about scope, prescription and the timing of implementation. Guideline B-10: Third-Party Risk Management sets out enhanced third-party

Close-up of male lawyer working in office.
News BrokersHRLegalOntario

Court backs broker in dispute over buying his book of business

May 5, 2023 by David Gambrill

Ontario’s Appeal Court has denied an appeal by a St. Catharines, Ont. brokerage in a dispute over the contract terms of a producer buying out his book of business after he served notice he was leaving the brokerage. In Lindsay

Version of Michelangelo's painting "The Creation of Adam" depicting the development of generative AI and machine learning
News BrokersClaimsCommercialEmerging RisksInsurersLegalLiabilityTechnology

What your business clients need to know about generative AI risks

May 4, 2023 by David Gambrill

Commercial brokers and insurers should alert their business clients to new liability risks around intellectual property (IP), copyright and licensing associated with using generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies like ChatGPT, Dall-E and Bard. “Generative AI is a type of artificial

A dike breach in Ste-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Que.
News CatastrophesClaimsEnvironmentalLegalPersonal HomeQuebec

Residents of Quebec town still struggle with aftermath of 2019 flooding

May 1, 2023 by Morgan Lowrie - THE CANADIAN PRESS

SAINTE-MARTHE-SUR-LE-LAC, Que. – Sylvie Bechard had only owned her little brick house for six months when her neighbour came banging on her door on the night of April 27, 2019. The dike holding back the Lake of Two Mountains had

Firefighters extinguishing an industrial fire at the fire station holding on to the hose spraying the fire at a storage tank.
News ClaimsCommercialInsurersLegalLiabilityPropertyQuebec

Insurer successfully defends city’s appeal over fire response times

April 28, 2023 by David Gambrill

Canada’s top court Thursday refused to hear an appeal in a case in which a Quebec municipality was found 25% liable for a fire that destroyed a commercial building when not enough firefighters were present after 10 minutes to fight

Condos along the Bow River in Calgary
News ClaimsClaims Canada ArchiveCommercialInsurersLegalLoss ControlLoss TrendsPropertyRisk Managers

Why condo corporations need an extra ‘financial cushion’ 

April 27, 2023 by Jason Contant

Canada’s national actuarial organization is recommending legislation that would require condo corporations to hold in their reserve funds a “financial cushion” above what’s required by a reserve fund study.  “That cushion protects corporations from adverse deviations from increased expenditures (among

Complaint file
News BrokersClaimsCommercialHRLegalLiabilityOperations

How brokers can protect clients from ESG and DEI claims risk

April 25, 2023 by Philip Porado

Brokers placing directors and officers (D&O) insurance coverage should recognize the growing importance of how private company clients manage both environmental, social and governance (ESG) and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) concerns. Those issues are of increasing concern to the

Severe flooding on the Ottawa River (for illustrative purposes only)
News ClaimsInsurersLegalPersonal HomePropertyQuebec

Insurer successfully defends flood exclusion in water damage endorsement

April 21, 2023 by David Gambrill

A Quebec home insurer successfully defended a flood exclusion to its policy’s water damage endorsement, on the basis that the insurer would not cover water damage that “occurs when a flood reaches the surface of the ground on the premises.”

Cyber thief in black gloves hides a stolen hard drive
News ClaimsCommercialCyberLegalNWTTechnology

Break-in at government office results in privacy breach

April 21, 2023 by The Canadian Press

YELLOWKNIFE – The Northwest Territories government says a break-in at its Department of Education, Culture and Employment headquarters in Yellowknife has resulted in a privacy breach affecting about 3,000 people. The government says the break-in occurred early on Sunday and

stabbing with a knife, assault. Illustration. Black silhouette on rad background
News ClaimsInsurersLegalLiabilityOntario

Why Intact doesn’t have to defend a man found not criminally responsible for a knife attack

April 14, 2023 by David Gambrill

Intact Insurance does not have a duty to defend a man with schizophrenia who stabbed the owner of a firearms store while in the grip of a psychotic delusion, Ontario’s Court of Appeal has ruled. Brett Butterfield suffered a psychotic