Disaster Loss mitigation: Great Balls of Hail
August 1, 1999 Alan Pang, managing director at the Institute for Catastrophic LOver recent years the largest catastrophic loss payments of most insurers have resulted from prairie hailstorms. During the 1990s, there have been six major storms, each causing catastrophic losses in excess of $50 million. The National Hail Conference, recently held…
Canadian First-Quarter Weak
August 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterBusiness conditions for the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry remained weak for the first quarter of this year, with auto and personal property showing increased loss ratios across Ontario and Atlantic Canada, says Paul Kovacs in the Insurance Bureau…
The Internet’s consumer VOICE
July 1, 1999 Dennis Krueger, a U.S. freelance technology writerOriginally a medium for scientists to exchange information, the Internet’s use has rapidly expanded to become a virtual commercial marketplace. And, with the Internet’s commercial potential beginning to truly surface, consumers through news group forums and dedicated web sites are…
IBABC 99 AGM AND CONFERENCE: Regional Unity the Cornerstone
June 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorPromoting regional unity and getting out on the road to read member needs and concerns first hand are central issues of the Insurance Brokers Association of British Columbia’s strategic growth plan for the year ahead. Although brokers should remain competitive…
The Safety Equation
June 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorRecent months have seen increased pressure being brought to bear by the private property and casualty insurance industry to deregulate the monopoly positions of provincial government insurers. Due to its sheer size and control of one of Canada’s largest consumer…
Canadian insurance earnings plummet
April 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterJanuary ice storm losses, rate cutting and poor investment returns are the major culprits pointing to a 42% drop in property and casualty insurers’ earnings to $1.137 billion for 1998 compared with 1997’s earnings of $1.960 billion, says Paul Kovacs,…
U.S. Insurance Market Outlook
April 1, 1999 Sean Mooney, senior vice president at Guy Carpenter & Company InForecasting the U.S. insurance industry in recent years has been a rear view mirror exercise. The rate of growth in the industry has been in the same 2% to 3% range and profitability indicators have shown little change from year…
Batten down the hatches FOR 99
March 1, 1999 Lowell Conn and Sean Van ZylReduced profitability, rising underwriting losses, increased competition and higher technology costs are likely to form the stage for the North American property and casualty insurance industry in 1999, according to the vast majority of respondents in an Insurance Information Institute (III) survey conducted at the annually held Joint Industry Forum which recently took place in New York City.
the Davids and the Goliath
March 1, 1999 Shelley BoyesSince Saskatchewan’s decision to introduce public auto insurance in 1946, the advancement of government insurers across the provinces has been a sharp thorn in the side of Canada’s private property and casualty insurance industry. The “socialist disease” of government-run auto…
Dominion sets Chieftain launch
March 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterDominion of Canada General Insurance has joined the growing rank of insurance companies offering broker call centre services. In the spring of this year Dominion will launch Chieftain Insurance in the Alberta and Ontario personal lines markets. Dominion president George…
Weathering the storm
March 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorThere are few leaders in the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry applying an optimistic view of business and earnings growth in 1999. In fact, premium growth across the lines is unlikely to exceed the country’s expansion of gross domestic…
CORRECTION (March 01, 1999)
March 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterNews