Canadian Underwriter

Topic Legal

The insurance hard market can be a tough nut to crack
News CommercialCyberLegalLiabilityLoss TrendsRisk ManagersTrusted Advisor

How the hard market impacts public risk managers

October 25, 2023 by Alyssa Di Sabatino

Budgeting is where risk managers of publicly owned organizations feel the hard market the most. Public risk managers must often buy insurance for their entire region or branch while predicting what future losses may be. Like all risk managers, they

Beautiful sturdy wood Architecture.
News CommercialInsurersLegalPropertySaskatchewan

Policy exclusion? Watch your exceptions in multiple-cause losses

October 18, 2023 by David Gambrill

Underwriters must pay close attention to the policy wording they use in their exceptions to exclusions, lest insurers find themselves on the hook for covering losses with two or more suspected causes. That’s a key takeaway from Brock Stock Farm

AI concept
News CommercialCyberEmerging RisksInsurersLegalOperationsTechnologyTrending

How the industry is using GenAI

October 13, 2023 by Jason Contant

Canadian insurance industry players are using generative AI (GenAI) not just to simplify tasks like ‘traditional’ artificial intelligence, but for a variety of applications ranging from marketing and fraud detection, to legal documents, speakers said during a recent industry event.

Lone fisherman at sunrise against the backdrop of a mountain landscape. Vector illustration.
News BrokersClaimsLegalMGAs

Clarifying Nativelands: What the decision means to brokers

October 11, 2023 by Stephen F. Gleave, partner, DLA Canada (Toronto)

Canadian Underwriter published an article on Sept. 19, 2023, entitled “Court draws distinction between a brokerage and a consultant.” The article deals with an important decision of Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Morgan released on July 25, 2023. The matter

An illustration of a young man with car in the background at night.
News ClaimsEmerging RisksInsurersLegalLoss TrendsPersonal Auto

Grand Theft Auto: P&C industry sounds the alarm

October 11, 2023 by David Gambrill

Auto theft costs in 2023 are projecting to break record levels established in 2022, P&C insurance professionals are warning. A recent survey by Équité Association shows auto theft in Ontario increased by 31% year-over-year in the first half of 2023.

New rules coming for insurance industry intermediaries
News BrokersEmerging RisksInsurersLegalLiabilityLicensingOntarioOperationsPersonal AutoTechnology

Is FSRA planning to license aggregators?

October 6, 2023 by Philip Porado

Ontario’s insurance regulator has confirmed it is considering whether or not aggregators need to be licensed. Since August, when Ontario’s financial services regulator issued a report outlining concerns about auto insurers’ compliance with take-all-comers requirements, Canada’s P&C insurance industry has

High end, ultra-modern manufacturing facility
News Business InterruptionClaimsCommercialCommercial AutoConstructionEnvironmentalInsurersLegalLiabilityLoss ControlLoss TrendsProperty

Tips for insuring properties worth more than $500 million

October 2, 2023 by Philip Porado

Coverage for high-value real estate, defined as sites worth $500 million or more, is often based as much on how those sites are used as on the physical assets themselves. Multi-use sites, where activities like manufacturing, distribution, logistics and management

Empty office building ready to convert into housing
News BrokersClaimsCommercialConstructionInsurersLegalLiabilityLoss ControlOperationsProperty

How insurance helps when converting office buildings to housing

September 29, 2023 by Philip Porado

Canada’s housing crisis has deepened since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. And when office vacancy rates across Canada topped 17% in 2022 Q4, calls grew louder to convert some of that unused commercial space into residential units. What’s more,

Diverse group working in an office.
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Why you might need a diversity, equity and inclusion partner

September 28, 2023 by Alyssa Di Sabatino

Need some help with your brokerage’s efforts to develop a more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace? Consider partnering with another organization to create recruiting or other interim partnerships, suggested Craig Pinnock, chief financial officer of Northbridge Financial Corporation. “These are the

Insurance policy agreement in office
News ClaimsClaims Canada ArchiveInsurersLegalOntarioPersonal Auto

Why this address misrepresentation ruling was set aside

September 27, 2023 by Jason Contant

Ontario’s Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) erred in law when ruling it had to rely solely on the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS) and had no jurisdiction to award equitable remedies under the Insurance Act, a provincial court has found.  In

Scales of justice loaded with money symbolizing high cost of legal action
News AlbertaClaimsClaims Canada ArchiveInsurersLegalLiabilityLoss TrendsPersonal Auto

What’s contributing to rising auto premiums in Alberta?

September 26, 2023 by Jason Contant

Litigation costs stand out as a major contributor to premiums drivers pay in Alberta, according to a new report from accounting firm MNP. Legal costs in Alberta’s auto insurance system have risen 31% since 2018 and account for roughly 20%

Multiethnic people representing workplace diversity
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How Canada’s brokers can move the needle on DEI

September 26, 2023 by Alyssa Di Sabatino

Don’t have the resources to embark on large-scale diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs? You can still get started by simply committing your brokerage to change. “If you’re a small brokerage, maybe you don’t have the resources, I think the