What’s New: In Brief (February 05, 2010)

Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario (RIBO), a self-regulating body for the province’s insurance brokers, is exploring the possibility of an online election process.
RIBO has a participation rate “in the area of 25% to 30%” of its membership. The regulator says this compares favourably to a 5%-to-15% voting percentage for other self-regulating professions.
Last year, 8,688 votes were cast in RIBO’s election for council positions. That’s an increase over the 7,494 brokers who cast ballots in RIBO’s 2008 election.
“Nevertheless, I believe that we should consider ways to increase the percentage of members who take the time to vote,” RIBO president Al Chamney wrote in his president’s address published in RIBO’s 2009 Winter Bulletin. “Accordingly, RIBO will continue to explore the introduction of an online election process, or perhaps a hybrid approach that allows for both paper-based and secure online voting.”

Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc. is introducing its Crawford Contractor Connection service to the Canadian property and casualty marketplace.
Crawford Contractor Connection is intended to provide insurers with an efficient, high-quality, managed repair vendor network for residential and commercial property claims programs.
“Contractor recruitment, estimate reviews, assignment monitoring, re-inspections, issue resolution and contract administration are all handled by Contractor Connection to increase efficiency and reduce customer indemnity costs,” explained Pat Van Bakel, senior vice president of claims operations at Crawford & Company (Canada).