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Humans required to train AI to assess images for damage losses

August 22, 2018 by Greg Meckbach

Claims adjusters could soon have part of their work replaced by software that looks at photos and decides whether property is damaged, but there is still a need for humans in the process, one researcher predicts. When properties are damaged

News ClaimsInsurance

Beleaguered industry faces prospect of more flood damage in Ontario

August 21, 2018 by David Gambrill

Most of Ontario is under a severe weather warning Tuesday, once again threatening flood damage in a province where insurers have already paid approximately $800 million for natural catastrophe damages. This cumulative total for the year in Ontario does not

News Climate ChangeLegislation / Regulation

Tories call for ‘made-in-Ontario’ climate change adaptation plan

August 21, 2018 by Greg Meckbach

Ontario’s new government is promising to address property risk with a “new climate change plan,” but one of the first things it has done is table legislation scrapping a program that charges people for carbon emissions. “We know that the

News ClaimsInsurance

Few B.C. wildfire claims thus far, although situation remains fluid

August 20, 2018 by Jason Contant

Although property damage as a result of the wildfires in British Columbia has been “light” so far this year, the industry must remain vigilant as this could change quickly, said Glenn McGillivray, managing director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss

News ClaimsClimate ChangeInsurance

How much this province’s “historic” flooding will cost the industry

August 14, 2018 by Jason Contant

Spring flooding in New Brunswick may have been “historic” and “record-setting,” but it didn’t meet the $25-million threshold of a catastrophe event. Catastrophe Indices and Quantification (CatIQ) told Canadian Underwriter Monday the flooding was a “notable event,” meaning it caused

News AdjustersClaimsInsurance

Flood report: The city that saw a month’s worth of rain in under three hours

August 8, 2018 by Jason Contant

A “pocket storm” that dumped a month’s worth of rain on the City of Toronto in less than three hours Tuesday night has resulted in mostly sewer back-up and flooding claims, with few commercial losses, according to claims adjuster ClaimsPro.

News Earnings / RatingsInsuranceLegislation / RegulationMarkets / Coverages

Aviva Canada’s plan to decrease its exposure in Ontario auto

August 2, 2018 by David Gambrill

Aviva Canada is diversifying its portfolio of business to avoid exposure to deteriorating conditions in Ontario’s auto insurance market. “When you look at Aviva’s business in Canada, there’s a heavy concentration in Ontario auto,” Aviva Canada president and CEO Colm

News CatastrophesClimate ChangeInsuranceRisk

What Canada’s P&C industry has learned from catastrophes

July 31, 2018 by David Gambrill

Each catastrophe presents a unique learning opportunity for today’s risk and insurance professional; over time, savvy risk experts will use these broad-scale “teachable moments” to better prepare their clients and employers to be more resilient in the future. Canadian Underwriter

News AdjustersClaimsInsuranceMarkets / CoveragesRestoration

How much it cost the industry when baseball-sized hail hit western Canada

July 23, 2018 by Jason Contant

A severe storm that affected parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba in mid-June resulted in more than $90 million in insured damage, according to data released by Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ). Strong winds and large hail – in some

News Claims

Massive fire strikes one of Saskatchewan town’s biggest employers

July 23, 2018 The Canadian Press

ROSTHERN, Sask. – The damage estimate is expected to run into the millions of dollars after a fire tore through a large central Saskatchewan farm machinery dealership. Emergency crews were called to Cervus Equipment John Deere in Rosthern just before

News Reinsurance

Cyber criminal interest in electrical utilities on the rise

July 16, 2018 by Greg Meckbach

Electrical and utility firms in North America continue to be a target for cyber criminals, the head of a cyber loss modelling provider suggests. Over the past few months, there has been an “uptick in threat actor activity around energy

News CatastrophesClaimsInsuranceTechnology

Cyber catastrophe bonds: Coming soon?

July 13, 2018 by Greg Meckbach

With computer security incidents causing business interruption and privacy breaches, there is a “very real possibility” that a catastrophe bond covering cyber risk might be available, the head of a cyber risk modelling vendor predicts. Catastrophe bonds are a form