How to carve out more time to advise your small business clients
October 14, 2018 by Greg MeckbachSmall business clients want to spend less time filling out insurance application forms and more time getting advice from their brokers, an insurance technology expert says. “Unlike personal insurance, where there is more propensity to go direct, small business owners…
How this commercial brokerage addresses skills shortages
October 14, 2018 by Greg MeckbachBrokerage owners in some regions are struggling to find staff who know commercial lines. “There are very few people (in Saskatchewan) who understand commercial insurance deeply,” said David Reidy, president and CEO of Regina-based commercial brokerage Henderson Insurance Inc. To…
Why commercial property claims could skyrocket after pot legalization
October 11, 2018 by David GambrillLarge-severity commercial property losses could be the upshot of the legalization of marijuana on Oct. 17, an insurance lawyer cautions. “I see there being more property loss-type claims coming out of these large [marijuana-growing] facilities, particularly the greenhouse facilities,” Aaron…
Are commercial lines going direct?
October 7, 2018 by Jason ContantCommercial lines may be moving more toward a direct model, a property and casualty insurance industry analyst suggested recently. “It’s interesting to see commercial lines moving toward the direct model, which we haven’t really seen,” said Philip Heywood, a partner…
Is this the beginning of the end of a soft commercial market in Canada?
October 4, 2018 by Jason ContantThe commercial insurance market in Canada may be starting to see indications of premium rate hardening, Hub International Canada president Tina Osen told Canadian Underwriter recently. “It hasn’t all hit yet, so I want to be clear on that,” Osen…
The ‘wake-up call’ for brokers placing D&O liability
October 2, 2018 by Greg MeckbachA multi-million-dollar pollution clean-up order that spooked the Canadian insurance industry has some commercial brokers taking a good hard look at the exact wording of mid- to large-sized clients’ directors and officers (D&O) liability policies. The Ontario Ministry of the…
Working around the workarounds
October 1, 2018 Lisa Kerr, president, Zynamic SolutionsThere is a lot of room to improve the current process for buying commercial insurance in Canada. In a brokerage, fully half of the 24 common touchpoints involved in processing a single new commercial policy could be removed through automation,…
How cyber risk managers can detect something that does not look right
September 25, 2018 by Greg MeckbachMachine learning – which some brokers use to make chatbots – can also help companies improve cyber risk by flagging abnormal activity. Machine learning is a type of artificial intelligence, which mimics human cognition and activities, such as identifying patterns.…
How commercial insurers are addressing this D&O coverage gap
September 21, 2018 by Greg MeckbachIf your corporate client goes under and occupies polluted land, what happens if individual directors are left on the hook to clean up environmental contamination? This is the subject of “long, complex discussions” that Aon Canada brokers are having with…
More commercial brokerage consolidation could follow Marsh-JLT combo
September 19, 2018 by Greg MeckbachA US$6-billion merger between Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. and Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group Plc could form the world’s largest commercial brokerage, and more mergers and acquisitions among commercial brokerages will likely to follow, a Canadian M&A expert suggests. Marsh…
How corporate mergers impact cyber risk
September 19, 2018 by Greg MeckbachCyber risk goes up if a company goes through a merger or acquisition, an information security consultant suggests. One way your client can reduce cyber risk is to know what hardware and software is on their computer network, Jeremy Hurst,…
Marsh & McLennan agrees to buy Jardine Lloyd Thompson
September 18, 2018 by Greg MeckbachIf a US$6.4-billion deal announced Tuesday is approved, commercial brokerages Marsh and Jardine Lloyd Thompson will be owned by the same company. New York City-based Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. says its board of directors has agreed to an acquisition…