News
Allstate reports cat losses of $359 million for first quarter
April 18, 2013 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Allstate Corp. announced Wednesday that its estimated catastrophe losses for the first quarter of this year is $359 million before taxes. After taxes, that estimate is $233 million for the first quarter, the company said. For March, the company…
Wind and hail caused $3.9 billion in damage last year: State Farm
April 18, 2013 by Canadian UnderwriterHail and wind damage in North America last year accounted for more than $3.9 billion in property damage, according to statistics from insurance giant State Farm. In Canada, there were more than 3,000 claims reported in the provinces where State…
New Brunswick premier appoints new acting ombudsman
April 18, 2013 by Canadian UnderwriterNew Brunswick has a new acting ombudsman, just two days after the province’s consumer advocate for insurance argued in its annual report that its duties should remain separate from the ombudsman’s office. New Brunswick’s premier David Alward announced Thursday that…
Saskatchewan increases access to driver training for First Nations students
April 18, 2013 by Canadian UnderwriterAll students who attend on-reserve high schools in Saskatchewan will have access to driver education, the provincial government announced this week. The announcement follows the release of the Joint Task Force on Improvement Education and Employment Outcomes for First Nations…
P&C industry must meet promise to consumers, despite growing complexity of regulatory environment: IBC president
April 18, 2013 by Canadian UnderwriterCanada’s property and casualty industry needs to be innovative, but the regulatory enviornment must not grow so complex that it jeopardizes the promise to protect Canadians and pay claims, Don Forgeron, president and CEO of the Insurance Bureau of Canada…
ORSA leads naturally to setting an organization’s risk appetite
April 18, 2013 by Canadian UnderwriterThere is a lot to gain by executing on a good Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA) framework, Louis Durocher, senior vice president and chief actuary for Aviva Canada Inc., suggested during a symposium this week. The ORSA approach, which…
Global insurance rates continue to firm: Marsh
April 17, 2013 by Canadian UnderwriterGlobal insurance rates continued to firm on average in the first quarter of 2013, following a trend established over the previous 18 months, according to figures released in Marsh’s latest Global Insurance Market Quarterly Briefing. Many parts of the world…
Many Canadians aren’t confident businesses are protecting their personal information
April 17, 2013 by Canadian UnderwriterMany Canadians are not very confident about their ability to protect personal information when using new technologies, and want organizations to inform them of how they use such information, results from a poll by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner…
Quebec insurer group allows consumers online access to claims history
April 17, 2013 by Canadian UnderwriterThe association that includes all the private auto insurance carriers in Quebec announced Wednesday that consumers in the province can now consult their claims file online and can request access. Consumers can now request access to the Fichier central des…
Manitoba budget includes PST increase for infrastructure, flood protection
April 17, 2013 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Manitoba government has announced a planned increase to the provincial sales tax in its budget for 2013, as part of a plan that would address flood protection and upgrades to infrastructure in the province. The proposed increase in PST…
Munich Re supports earthquake prevention plan in high-risk region of India
April 17, 2013 by Canadian UnderwriterGlobal reinsurer Munich Re is supporting a two-year earthquake prevention project in an extremely high-risk city in India. Aizawl, a city in northeast India, has a population of about 300,000 and is situated in the “geographically complex border area between…
Supply chain interruption insurance has slow uptake in downstream energy market: Willis
April 17, 2013 by Canadian UnderwriterCarriers are slowly introducing supply chain interruption to downstream energy firms such as petroleum refineries, suggests a recent report from Willis Group Holdings plc, but many potential clients are not able to provide enough underwriting information for such coverage. “After…