News
What’s New: In Brief (February 16, 2007)
February 16, 2007 by Canadian UnderwriterJoseph A. Hardy has been appointed account development executive of Compliance Management Inc. (CMI). Working out of CMIs Markham office, Hardy will be responsible for compliance risk management in Canada. With more than 20 years working with large corporations in…
Co-operators report fourth quarter results
February 16, 2007 by Canadian UnderwriterFor the fourth quarter, Co-operators General Insurance Company reported consolidated after-tax net income of Cnd$19 million, compared to the Cnd$39 million profit for the same period in 2005.Gross written premium in the fourth quarter increased 6.7% to Cnd$519 million, compared…
Criminal intent is irrelevant when interpreting exclusions for criminal acts
February 16, 2007 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Ontario Court of Appeal has found that insurance companies can exclude coverage for liability on the basis of criminal acts, regardless of whether or not the criminal act was intentional.Kirk Boggs, a lawyer with Lerners, argued the case before…
TSR technology can now predict rainfall amounts, locations
February 15, 2007 by Canadian UnderwriterTropical Storm Risk, a subsidiary of the Benfield Hazard Research Centre, has developed technology for its TSR Storm Tracker that can predict the amount of rainfall and where it will fall to a 60 km area.TSR Storm Tracker was developed…
Zurich reports 2006 profit of US$4.5 billion
February 15, 2007 by Canadian UnderwriterZurich Financial Services Group reported a net income of US$4.5 billion, an increase of 41% for the year 2006.General insurance gross written premiums and policy fees earned US$34.2 billion, with a combined operating ratio of 94.2%, an improvement of 6.6%…
ING Canada reports 2006 Q4 earnings of $109.4 million
February 15, 2007 by Canadian UnderwriterING Canada Inc. reported net income of Cdn$109.4 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2006, down from Cdn$196.9 million reported in the same quarter last year.The company says the drop in net income was driven by lower underwriting income,…
State Farm Insurance will stop writing new policies for Mississippi
February 15, 2007 by Canadian UnderwriterCiting uncertainties in the Mississippi legal and business environments, State Farm Senior Vice President Bob Trippel recently told Mississippi’s Commissioner of Insurance George Dale that State Farm Fire and Casualty Company will suspend writing new homeowners and commercial property insurance…
What’s New: In Brief (February 14, 2007)
February 14, 2007 by Canadian UnderwriterNancy Ng has been appointed manager of insurance services at PPG Canada Inc.PPG Industries is a diversified manufacturer that supplies vehicle-related products and services around the world. In addition, PPG’s Lynx Services provides claims management solutions and handles more than…
Manulife reports 2006 Q4 earnings of $3.9 billion
February 14, 2007 by Canadian UnderwriterManulife Financial Corporation reported shareholders’ net income of $3.9 billion for 2006, an increase of 21% over the full year 2005. “The strong organic growth across all of our operations is encouraging and contributed to another year of record earnings,”…
Marsh & McLennan report 500% increase in profit
February 14, 2007 by Canadian UnderwriterMarsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (MMC) reported a hefty 2006 Q4 profit of US$226 million, an increase of more than 500% over 2005’s final quarter.Full-year consolidated net income was US$990 million, compared with US$404 million in 2005.Risk and insurance services…
Hub to acquire large Lousisiana-based insurance agency
February 14, 2007 by Canadian UnderwriterHub International Limited has agreed to acquire substantially all of the assets of one of the largest Louisiana-based insurance brokers, Hibernia Insurance Agency, L.L.C., according to a press release.Hibernia Insurance, an $18 million revenue brokerage firm, will become a new…
Quantify risk first, before considering captives
February 13, 2007 by Canadian UnderwriterInsureds need to quantify their catastrophe risks as accurately as possible first, before considering whether a captive is an appropriate financial tool for managing those risks, according to Kate Westover, the vice president of the Vermont-based alternative risk financing organization,…