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Person getting hurt while riding an e-scooter
News ClaimsInsuranceLegal

Whose insurer pays when e-scooter drivers crash?

November 17, 2023 Philip Porado

News reports about drivers of stand-up e-scooters injuring pedestrians in several Canadian cities are raising questions about insurance coverage for the vehicles — and how injured pedestrians might recover damages. But what about the e-scooter drivers themselves? Can they recover

Walking through a burned forest near Lebel-sur-Quevillon, Que.
News ClaimsClaims CanadaInsuranceRisk

Quebec to improve forest fire adaptation after record-breaking wildfire season

November 15, 2023 The Canadian Press

Quebec’s forest fire prevention agency says the area burned by wildfires this year was greater than the previous 20 years combined. SOPFEU director general Eric Rousseau told reporters today that some 4.5 million hectares of land burned during this year’s

Winter driving on a slippery road
News ClaimsInsuranceMarkets / Coverages

Why more Canadian drivers are using winter tires

November 14, 2023 by Jason Contant

Winter tire use in Canada is increasing, with 71% of polled Canadian drivers outside of Quebec now using winter tires, up from 63% in 2022, according to a survey conducted by Leger for the Tire and Rubber Association of Canada

Global cyberattack
News ClaimsClaims CanadaCommercial LinesInsuranceMarkets / CoveragesProductsRiskTechnology

Is it time for a new approach to systemic cyber?

November 10, 2023 by Jason Contant

Systemic cyber risk needs to be tackled with more capacity and ways of dealing with the attritional cyber market, Marc Lipman, president and attorney-in-fact at Lloyd’s Canada, suggested during an industry event last month. “Just like there developed a traditional,

School bus crashes into a home in Burnaby, B.C.
News ClaimsClaims CanadaInsuranceMarkets / Coverages

11 people sent to hospital after school bus crashes into B.C. home

November 10, 2023 The Canadian Press

BURNABY, B.C. – Adrian Striga says that if he had slept in Thursday morning, it could have cost him his life. Instead, the carpenter was at work when a private school bus crashed through the window of his Burnaby apartment

Forest fires cause air quality concerns across Quebec and Ontario
News ClaimsClaims CanadaInsurance

Quebec mayor, 23, resigns mid-mandate due to burnout from managing wildfires 

November 9, 2023 The Canadian Press

CHAPAIS, Que. – One of Quebec’s youngest mayors announced Wednesday she will be stepping down next week, suffering the effects of burnout from handling last summer’s historic wildfire season in her northern community.   Isabelle Lessard was acclaimed in 2021 as

Burning hay stacks
News ClaimsClaims CanadaCommercial LinesInsuranceMarkets / Coverages

Why hay barn fires catch insurers’ attention

November 9, 2023 by Jason Contant

The massive amount of water and firefighting resources required to put out hay barn fires is just one reason why these blazes are so stubborn, an industry professional said at the Farm Fire Summit last week.  A multi-million-dollar hay barn

Hurricane aftermath
News BrokersCatastrophesClaimsClimate ChangeInsurance

How to tame increasingly ferocious NatCats

November 6, 2023 David Gambrill

Escalating natural catastrophe losses are top of mind for specialty insurers in several different commercial lines, most notably property, said Jeff Coulson, director of claims for commercial specialty at Echelon Insurance. There were 15 declared Cats (events causing insured claims

Car thief trying to break into a car
News ClaimsClaims CanadaInsuranceMarkets / Coverages

Why Ontario thinks auto theft needs a federal approach

November 3, 2023 by Jason Contant

Ontario’s provincial government is urging a federal and multi-jurisdictional approach to combat auto theft in Canada. In its 2023 Fall Economic Statement released Thursday, the government called for the Canada Border Services Agency, RCMP, Montreal and Halifax port authorities, as

Tarantula crossing the road
News ClaimsClaims CanadaInsuranceMarkets / Coverages

Tarantula blamed for crash that sent Canadian motorcyclist to the hospital

November 3, 2023 The Associated Press

DEATH VALLEY, Calif. (AP) – A tarantula crossing the road in Death Valley National Park caused a traffic crash that sent a Canadian motorcyclist to the hospital, the National Park Service said. Swiss travelers, driving a rented camper van, braked

Hurricane Fiona
News BrokersCatastrophesClaimsClimate ChangeInsuranceMarkets / Coverages

Coastal storms: Could U.S. scenario happen here?

November 1, 2023 Philip Porado

Increasing intensity of hurricanes making landfall along the U.S. coastline, sparked largely by climate change, has resulted in significant insured losses for several years. And storms seem to be getting worse. That trend impacts insurability and, going forward, “property values

Office worker who has fallen on a staircase
News ClaimsInsurance

How to build environments that reduce staircase injuries

October 31, 2023 By Dr. Andrew Huntley and Claire Miller, 30 Forensic Engineering

As research drives new ways to build staircases that can prevent slip-and-falls, Canada’s building codes should be updated accordingly to reflect the safer designs. The importance of code updates is illustrated by falls on stairs, which in Ontario alone led