News

The Alberta government has approved $1 billion in emergency recovery and reconstruction funding for communities in the southern part of the province hit hard by flooding over the past week. The government said Monday it will be providing pre-loaded debit…

Towers Watson Capital Markets announced Monday it has recently arranged a private placement catastrophe bond, which closed at $30.49 million. The Oak Leaf Re 2013-1 series of bonds has a one-year expected maturity and will provide indemnity-based, collateralized catastrophe reinsurance…

Contractors specializing in cleaning and repairing damaged properties for insurance clients face competition from general contractors who tout their expertise in asbestos remediation, even though restoration specialists may have the requisite qualifications, suggests an official with the Restoration Contractors Organization…

There were 185 incidents of cargo theft in the United States between March and May this year, according to FreightWatch International. The company uses its data from its supply chain intelligence centre in its rolling quarterly reports on cargo thefts,…

Customer satisfaction with U.S. auto insurance carriers has dropped in five categories over the past year, suggests a study released Monday by J.D. Power and Associates. The J.D. Power 2013 U.S. Auto Insurance Study measures customer satisfaction in interaction, price,…

Manitoba Public Insurance has announced that drivers caught using handheld electronic devices will receive two demerits, in addition to the current $200 fine. The demerits, used by several other Canadian jurisdictions, will have an mpact on an individual’s driver safety…

Ocean warming and climate change can threaten the insurability of catastrophe risk in some areas and illustrates a need to shift from historic to predictive risk assessment methods, suggests a report released Monday by the international insurance think tank, The…

Several major claims adjusting firms are prepared to respond to the severe flooding situation in southern Alberta, which has forced thousands of residents to evacuate their homes. As of Friday afternoon, more than 75,000 residents had had evacuation orders and…

After several years of development, a Canadian company is launching a product that uses a consumer’s DNA to mark valuable assets, a tool it says insurers can use to track items after loss or theft. Alastair Russell, now CEO of…

There are now 24 states allowing some form of electronic proof of coverage during a traffic stop, the Property Casualty Insurance Association of America reported earlier this month. In what the association says is a legislative trend in terms of…

Within 10 years, there will be 700 million cars connected to wireless networks, and 1.1 billion aftermarket devices for services such as usage-based insurance that will be made possible by this technology, suggests a recent report from Telefonica SA. London-based…

Restoration contractors who clean and repair damaged properties are starting to encounter problems similar to those of auto collision repair centres when dealing with insurance carriers, suggests the president of the Restoration Contractors Organization of Canada (RCOC). RCOC president Kyle…