News
Saskatchewan launches safety blitz against aggressive driving
March 7, 2012 by Canadian UnderwriterTraffic enforcement officers in Saskatchewan will be cracking down on aggressive driving on Mar. 14-15 as part of a coordinated safety blitz, a Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) release says. Aggressive driving includes speeding, driving too fast for road conditions, running…
Tohoku earthquake unleashes multiple ways to explore earthquake risk changes: RMS
March 7, 2012 by Canadian UnderwriterThe 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami has caused the seismic hazard research community to explore different ways to predict whether other related damaging earthquakes can be expected around Japan and whether Tohoku may have affected the timing of other earthquakes…
QBE unites reinsurance operations under QBE Re banner
March 7, 2012 by Canadian UnderwriterQBE Insurance Group announced it is combining its worldwide reinsurance operations under a single management team and unified brand, QBE Re. QBE Re will comprise of what’s currently known as Syndicate 566, QBE Re (Europe), Secura NV and QBE Re…
Nova Scotia Court of Appeal confirms province’s subrogated right to claim against an insurer for nursing home costs arising from auto injuries
March 7, 2012 by Canadian UnderwriterNova Scotia’s Court of Appeal confirmed in a 3-1 majority decision released on Feb. 23 that Nova Scotia’s Department of Health has a subrogated right to claim against an insurer for nursing home costs arising from injuries sustained in a…
MPI encourages consumers to combat auto fraud
March 7, 2012 by Canadian UnderwriterManitoba Public Insurance (MPI) is encouraging consumers to come forward and speak out against auto fraud to mark Fraud Prevention Month. During the month of March, MPI will make an extra effort to remind consumers about its TIPS line. To…
Capitalizing on the “digitalization age” requires legacy system review
March 6, 2012 by Canadian UnderwriterInsurers and brokers wishing to thrive in the era of digitalization may be underestimating the challenge posed by legacy systems, according to Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, vice president and analyst at Gartner Research. She made this observation during her keynote address at…
CSIO releases XML standards for E-docs
March 6, 2012 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Centre for the Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO) has released its XML Standards for electronic documents, known as ‘E-docs.’ With E-doc workflows, PDF files of the policies are sent directly from the insurer to the broker management system (BMS)…
Lloyd’s expands electronic endorsements initiative to all classes of business
March 6, 2012 by Canadian UnderwriterLloyd’s London Market Group (LMG) announced its electronic endorsements initiative is now extended to all classes of business. Brokers can now send all endorsements in every class electronically. All insurers will be able to respond to them. The London Market…
EQECAT estimates U.S. tornadoes cost insurers between $1 billion and $2 billion
March 6, 2012 by Canadian UnderwriterEQECAT has estimated insured damage of between $1 billion and $2 billion arising from the tornadoes that tore through the United States Midwest over a four-day period in early March. The catastrophe modeller says a preliminary count of more than…
IBC revamps website to highlight anti-fraud content
March 6, 2012 by Canadian UnderwriterInsurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) has revamped its social media site to make the fraud-related content more prominent. The site, http://getintheknow.ibc.ca/, provides resources to help Canadians understand the issue of fraud recognize the red flags associated with scammers. IBC’s Twitter…
Insurers, brokers face a “perfect storm” of changing technology, consumer trends
March 6, 2012 by Canadian UnderwriterInsurers and brokers are facing a “perfect storm,” including a data arms race among third party data collectors, business owners and senior executives seemingly out of touch with emerging technologies, changing consumer patterns in post-PC age and a lack of…
BP reaches proposed $7.8 billion settlement for Deepwater Horizon spill
March 5, 2012 by Canadian UnderwriterBritish Petroleum (BP) has reached a $7.8 billion settlement with the plaintiffs’ steering committee (PSC) for the economic loss and medical claims stemming from 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident and oil spill. The settlement is subject to final written agreement. BP…