Canadian Underwriter


News Technology

Why regulation holds auto insurers back from using advanced modelling

August 4, 2020 by Greg Meckbach

Auto insurers could potentially use artificial intelligence to improve risk segmentation but some of the newer modelling techniques may not be a good fit with the way rates are currently regulated, a data science expert for one insurer suggests. Ontario’s

News Technology

The business processes you should automate now

July 17, 2020 by Greg Meckbach

Invoice processing and after-hours self-service are among the processes you could be automating today with advanced computing technologies. Aviva Canada has automated the reconciliation of invoices, the company’s chief claims officer, Bryant Vernon, reported during a Canadian Underwriter webinar Thursday.

News Insurance

How insurtech Lemonade’s IPO is going so far

July 3, 2020 by Greg Meckbach

Despite the pandemic-induced economic downturn, an insurtech that promises tenants quotes within minutes started trading this week on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of Lemonade Inc. rose sharply July 2, closing at US$69.41, more than double the price at

News InsuranceTechnology

How the industry can take advantage of artificial intelligence

June 18, 2020 by Greg Meckbach

Brokerages who use artificial intelligence could find opportunities to upsell based on changes in a client’s lifestyle, according to a software vendor executive. The more data you feed a machine learning model and the more you train it, the better

News InsuranceTechnology

Why solvency regulator is concerned about ‘black box’ underwriting

December 4, 2019 by Greg Meckbach

Concerned about whether “black box” underwriting methods based on artificial intelligence are good for your clients? So is Canada’s federal insurance regulator. “We get a lot of questions around AI and what are we to do about it,” said Neville

News Commercial LinesTechnology

Why your commercial book will start getting a lot more rejections

November 6, 2019 by Greg Meckbach

Insurers who replace underwriters with computers are rejecting a lot of small business applications for reasons that are unclear to the brokers, a commercial broker suggests. “I think that insurers will start to realize that the black boxes are actually

News ClaimsClaims CanadaInsuranceLegalTechnology

Why artificial intelligence should be able to detect auto fraud

October 7, 2019 by Greg Meckbach

Artificial intelligence can make it nearly impossible for fraudsters to make a false claim appear real, the founder of an A.I. vendor suggests. If an auto insurance claim is fraudulent, A.I. software could pick up on that as long as

News InsuranceLegislation / RegulationTechnology

One way to convince regulators to relax auto rate rules

September 27, 2019 by Greg Meckbach

Artificial intelligence may be able to help auto insurers convince regulators to relax certain prohibitions on rate restrictions, the founder of an A.I. vendor suggests. In Ontario, insurers are prohibited from using several factors – such as certain at-fault accidents,

News Insurance

How good are estimates of industry-wide insurance fraud?

September 20, 2019 by Greg Meckbach

Insurers really don’t know how much money fraud is costing them. “In Ontario, we have to rely on other jurisdictions to try and quantify it because we are so lousy at it,” said Gordon Rasbach, former vice president of property

News Insurance

The first step in determining whether AI could pay off

August 12, 2019 by Greg Meckbach

Thinking of investing in artificial intelligence so you can automate tasks that are wasting workers’ time? Many brokerages have processes that could be improved through machine learning, suggested Christopher Wynder, director of product marketing for capture and original equipment manufacturing

News Insurance

Where AI can help underwriters

August 8, 2019 by Adam Malik

When nearly half of your time is taken up doing mundane – but essential – tasks, one expert believes it’s time to embrace a better way. Carlos Benfeito, Montreal-based head of insurance products at Element AI, noted that about 40%

News Insurance

How this brokerage plans to use AI for renewal process

August 7, 2019 by Greg Meckbach

An online-only brokerage is working on an artificial intelligence tool that would alert staff if a client whose situation has changed could now get a better deal on their insurance. Magreth, Alta.-based surex.com Ltd. recently developed a prototype of an