Topic Loss Trends
MGAs finding it harder to place this kind of commercial coverage
September 1, 2020 by Greg MeckbachIf you are finding it difficult to place business interruption insurance for restaurants, hotels and event venues, you aren’t alone. Aurora Underwriting Services Inc., an Alberta-based managing general agent and Lloyd’s coverholder, is still placing insurance for restaurants, company owner…
Adjuster training: How the industry can up its game
August 31, 2020 by Greg MeckbachCanada’s property and casualty insurance industry needs to cross-train more claims adjusters if it wants to have enough property adjusters to be available in the event of a catastrophe, industry experts said last week. “Cross-training is important because it is…
Adjusting Calgary’s hailstorm: The rationale for bringing in U.S. Cat adjusters
August 28, 2020 by Greg MeckbachDuring the hail storm this past June that damaged tens of thousands of Alberta homes, adjusting firm CRU Group struggled to find enough qualified independent catastrophe adjusters in Canada, and wound up resorting to bringing in people from the United…
The impact of MGAs getting more business
August 25, 2020 by Greg MeckbachIt is taking longer to get insurance placed through managing general agents because MGAs are getting more business in the hard market, one Ontario broker suggests. Many commercial accounts, which previously would have been handled by retail brokers, are now…
Opinion: Preparing for future risk? Look to what’s happened in the past
August 20, 2020 by Robert Muir-Wood, RMSWhen evaluating unexpected catastrophe risks, our experiences can be sparse. Widening our knowledge by going back in time, by exploring the ‘near-misses’ and by expanding our geographic horizons is critical. Fortunately, big catastrophes are rare. This is good in that…
Intact’s Brindamour: Why the hard market could last for up to two more years
August 20, 2020 by Greg MeckbachA hard market in reinsurance is among three main reasons why primary insurance rates will continue to rise for brokers’ clients for at least another year or two, Intact Financial Corp. CEO Charles Brindamour suggests. In a recent virtual fireside…
How the largest commercial brokerage views its COVID E&O exposure
August 18, 2020 by Greg MeckbachAlthough some commercial clients may start “suing everybody” because their business interruption insurance did not cover income lost during the pandemic, brokers could not have obtained broad-scale pandemic coverage for all clients even if they wanted to because the exposure…
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…
How the UK pandemic business interruption test case could play out
August 13, 2020 by Greg MeckbachThe industry will likely learn next month the outcome of a business interruption coverage test case arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the verdict is likely to be appealed, a Bermuda insurance CEO suggests. The British Financial Conduct Authority filed…
Cleaning Up
August 12, 2020 by Greg Meckbach, Associate EditorTens of thousands of claims, for a grand total of $1.2 billion in insured damaged, have been filed from the June 13 hail storm that hit the Calgary area
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…
Hot Lines
August 10, 2020 by Greg Meckbach, Associate EditorA surge in directors and officers liability claims, withdrawal of some carriers from hospitality and high-profile cyberattacks are among the big trends now in commercial specialty