News
Canada likely to see pricing pressure by end of year
June 19, 2009 by Canadian UnderwriterThe only product in the Canadian (re)insurance market experiencing cutbacks is credit insurance, said Jack Lee, national marketing manager at BFL Canada, in BFL’s publication The Cover Note.In a question-and-answer section on the state of the (re)insurance market, Lee also…
Most Albertans don’t seek competitive quotes for auto insurance: AIRB survey
June 18, 2009 by Canadian UnderwriterSixty-five per cent of survey respondents living in Alberta indicated they had not sought competitive auto insurance quotes in the past two years, according to a 2009 public perception survey commissioned by the Alberta Automobile Insurance Rate Board (AIRB).The survey…
Actuarial analysis calls for 3% decrease in basic auto rates in Alberta
June 18, 2009 by Canadian UnderwriterAn actuarial analysis presented to the Alberta Automobile Insurance Rate Board (AIRB) has suggested a 3% decrease in rates, assuming a cap on minor injury remains in place. This is in contrast to Insurance Bureau of Canada’s request for a…
Alberta risk sharing pools among the largest in North America
June 18, 2009 by Canadian UnderwriterOn a written exposure basis (or one car insured for one year), Alberta’s risk sharing pools (RSP) are the fourth largest in North America on a combined basis, the Facility Association says in its report to the Automobile Insurance Rate…
Internal social networking platforms potentially more valuable to organizations
June 18, 2009 by Canadian UnderwriterWhen implementing initiatives around online social networking, insurers that create internal networking platforms have the potential to extract far more value than those that create external communities for the public at large, a Celent report suggests. The popularity of online…
Waiver of tort troubling for insurers
June 17, 2009 by Canadian UnderwriterWaiver of tort is going to be the bane of insurers’ existence until it’s dealt with in the courts, Robert B. Bell of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP told delegates at an Insurance Institute of Canada seminar on June 17 in…
Expected flood of lawsuits against public companies by secondary market investors isn’t happening
June 17, 2009 by Canadian UnderwriterThe anticipated flood in Canada of class action lawsuits by secondary market investors against public companies has not yet materialized, in part because the representative plaintiffs in such lawsuits must seek leave of the courts to proceed.In the June 2009…
What’s New: In Brief (June 17, 2009)
June 17, 2009 by Canadian UnderwriterAutomobile accident victims are planning to rally and hold a news conference at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto on June 18, 2009 to protest proposed changes to Ontario’s auto insurance benefits.Speakers at the news conference will include Ontario NDP leader…
U.S. casualty loss reserves at approximately 2.9% redundancy
June 17, 2009 by Canadian UnderwriterThe property-casualty insurance industry reserve position has deteriorated slightly in 2008 when compared with analyses of previous years, reports Conning Research & Consulting Inc.In its report, Property-Casualty Loss Reserves: Once More to the Well, Conning reports that the U.S. property…
IBC calls on lawyers to not appeal cap decision
June 16, 2009 by Canadian UnderwriterInsurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) has removed its call to the Automobile Insurance Rate Board for a 40.2% increase in auto premiums in light of the recent Court of Appeal of Alberta decision upholding the province’s minor injury cap.IBC has…
Ontario court creates “half-a-loaf” solution for additional insureds in slip and fall cases
June 16, 2009 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Ontario Superior Court has created a “half-a-loaf solution” to the question of whether or not a defence is owed under a snow removal contractor’s policy to the owner of the premises that has been named as an additional insured…
A.M. Best upgrades Optimum General Insurance Group
June 16, 2009 by Canadian UnderwriterA.M. Best Co. has upgraded Optimum General Insurance Group (Canada)’s financial strength rating to B+ (good) from B (fair).Optimum General Insurance Group consists of Optimum Insurance Company Inc., its wholly-owned subsidiary, Optimum Farm Insurance Inc. (both of Montreal, Quebec) and…