Keyword
Economical Insurance
What is the future of ridesharing insurance in Canada?
August 27, 2020 by Jason ContantOnce autonomous vehicle technology becomes commercially feasible for public transportation, it will be widely adopted, predicts Obaid Rahman, vice president of commercial underwriting and specialty lines at Economical Insurance. “In my view, when autonomous technology is commercially viable for public…
What’s next for Economical’s demutualization
June 29, 2020 by Greg MeckbachEditor’s note: This story was updated to reflect a June 30 announcement by Economical Insurance Economical Insurance is still in the process of demutualizing but the next policyholders’ vote is not going to happen this year, the Waterloo, Ont. based…
Will COVID-19 affect the timing of Economical’s IPO?
April 2, 2020 by Greg MeckbachEconomical Insurance continues to work on converting from a mutual to a publicly traded firm, but officials with the Waterloo, Ont. carrier are keeping a close eye on the stock markets. “The outbreak of COVID-19 has adversely affected economic and…
Two-year window to dispute auto claim denial not a ‘hard limitation,’ court rules
November 13, 2019 by Greg MeckbachThe two-year time limit to take auto accident benefits disputes to Ontario’s Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) is not a “hard limitation” period, the province’s appeal court has ruled. In Tomec v. Economical Mutual Insurance Company, released Nov. 8, the Court…
How clients can cash in on demutualization
February 5, 2019 by Greg MeckbachEconomical Insurance clients looking forward to cashing in on demutualization might have to hold on to their shares in the company for nearly six months. In Economical’s demutualization proposal, one restriction on common shares (issued as a benefit to demutualization)…
Estimated value of Economical’s demutualization for mutual policyholders
February 1, 2019 by Greg MeckbachMutual policyholders of Economical Insurance could get more than $300,000 each if the Waterloo-based insurer demutualizes. A conversion proposal that Economical submitted to the regulator last year calls for 20% of benefits going first to eligible mutual policyholders, of which…
The trade-off to using artificial intelligence to speed up claims
August 29, 2018 by Greg MeckbachCanadian insurers wanting to handle claims like Lemonade are going to have to accept some trade-offs, a Claims Summit speaker said Tuesday. New York City-based Lemonade Insurance Company uses artificial intelligence and says it can handle some claims in three…
Canadian P&C industry enters “hybrid cloud” phase
July 24, 2018 by David GambrillCanadian P&C insurance companies have entered a transitional technology phase that will see data from their legacy systems get transferred online. “We are in a hybrid-cloud paradigm,” Frank Attaie, vice president of cloud and software at IBM Canada, told Canadian…
Economical makes history by submitting demutualization proposal to Ottawa
June 27, 2018 by Greg MeckbachEconomical Insurance has made history as the first property and casualty insurer in Canada to officially ask the federal government for permission to demutualize. The Waterloo, Ont.-based carrier announced Tuesday it has submitted a proposal to the country’s financial regulator…
‘Many more significant losses’ due to climate change: Economical execs
May 11, 2018 by Greg MeckbachClimate change was top of mind Monday for executives at Economical Insurance, which was hit with 11 weather catastrophes in 2017. “Climate change has resulted in many more significant losses from water and wind events,” said Gerald Hooper, a former…
Economical set to roll out ‘full training’ to brokers on Vyne
May 10, 2018 by Greg MeckbachBrokers will soon be able to learn Vyne, Economical Insurance’s Guidewire-based computer system, touted as a way of administering insurance policies with less manual intervention. “Soon we will roll be rolling out full training to 22,000 brokers across the country,”…
How Economical plans to remain independent after demutualization
May 9, 2018 by Greg MeckbachIf Economical Insurance becomes publicly-traded on the stock exchange, it could eventually be acquired, but company officials have no intention of making Economical an easy acquisition target. “We certainly made a determination a long time ago that we were not…