Our Aging Population and Inheritance: The New Frontier for Uninsured Liability Losses
October 24, 2012 by Canadian Underwriter magazine
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada – ERAssure® announced October 11th, the release of a Discussion Paper for Property and Casualty insurance brokers whose clients are the participants of the looming $1 Trillion inter-generational transfer of wealth in Canada.
“The Independent Brokers’ Role and Responsibility within Changing Demographics and Emergent Risk” is an important statement on emerging risk for the ordinary people responsible for administering estate assets (the executors) to and from children of the baby boom generation” said Scot Dalton, CEO of Estate Risk Protection Plan Inc., which operates under the registered brand of ERAssure®. “ This emerging risk is creating a new insurance marketplace, which also means a significant new E&O risk that brokers have not previously dealt with. “
Although typically unintended and more likely completely unknown to the individual preparing their Will, “the trusted family friend or relative” that accepts the executor role becomes the central figure in the risk that evolves from family dynamics, financial market volatility and access to information. These factors contribute significantly to a social landscape that has changed dramatically, affecting beneficiaries’ expectations, their assessment of executor performance and ultimately executor accountability.
The paper identifies how Property and Casualty Insurance brokers play an important role in identifying this risk, and the availability of a new insurance solution to help reduce this risk to their clients, thereby mitigating their own E&O exposure.
“There are so many unknowns in the administration of an estate and you never know when things can go badly. Executor liability insurance is akin to having auto insurance. You never know when you’re going to need it,” said Ian Hull, founding partner of Hull and Hull LLP and one of Canada’s most respected estate lawyers. “I have seen so many estates that looked simple at the beginning but turned badly, often at no fault of the executor. Executors are dealing with family members in an emotionally-charged issue. It can be a recipe for disaster. This liability insurance can protect an executor against what is very possible.”
About ERAssure®
ERAssure® is a registered operating name of Estate Risk Protection Plan Inc., a property casualty insurance brokerage licensed in each province and territory of Canada (excluding Quebec). It is the exclusive manager of the ERAssure® line of executor and estate liability insurance products. ERAssure® executor liability insurance is underwritten by Economical Insurance ®.
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