How to manage the immediate COVID-19 fallout while preparing for a post-pandemic future
April 22, 2020 by Jason ContantIndustry leaders should begin preparing right now for the post-pandemic business environment, while still managing the immediate fallout of COVID-19, two partners of a strategy consulting firm said recently. This includes spending time envisioning the future, developing a strategy to…
How COVID-19 is ramping up insurance needs for telemedicine
April 22, 2020 by Jason ContantCOVID-19 has sharply increased the demand for telemedicine in Canada, and with it comes emerging risks and possible unexpected gaps in coverage for clients. Telemedicine – or using video, audio and other technologies to deliver preventive, diagnostic and treatment services…
Economic risks of returning to normal too quickly
April 22, 2020 by Adam MalikReturning to some sort of normalcy is still some time away, according to one economist. And rushing to do so would likely be worse than waiting. It’s best, experts argue, to wait for public health officials to give the green…
Liability claims that could arise from the pandemic
April 22, 2020 by Greg MeckbachOne result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will be liability claims against company boards, property and casualty industry watchers predict. “I think we will see litigation coming out of this,” Shara Roy, a partner with law firm Lenczner Slaght Royce…
Car sharing shutdown in these Canadian cities
April 22, 2020 THE CANADIAN PRESSGeneral Motors says it has permanently shut down its Maven car sharing service in all markets including Toronto after suspending operations in March due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The company said in an email to customers Tuesday that it made…
The “dark side” of working from home: How to avoid an isolated workforce
April 21, 2020 by David GambrillBefore COVID-19, there was a lively debate within the Canadian P&C industry about the virtues and pitfalls of working from home, featuring the industry’s skeptics (a.k.a. the “Boomers”) and proponents (the “Millennials”). Well, guess what? The pandemic has made us…
Will more Canadian insurers introduce COVID-inspired D&O exclusions?
April 21, 2020 by Jason ContantThe Canadian insurance industry will struggle with adding exclusions related to COVID-19 in directors and officers (D&O) policies, “particularly in light of the fear that adding them now will suggest past policies did not exclude these issues,” a Toronto lawyer…
What you need to know about clients changing production
April 21, 2020 by Adam MalikA company that makes sweaters can’t flip a switch the next day and start making hospital gowns for frontline healthcare workers before working through important insurance considerations, according to experts. If you have a client looking to shift production —…
What COVID-19 tells us about buying commercial insurance direct
April 21, 2020 by Greg MeckbachCommercial clients can buy insurance online if they want, but the COVID-19 pandemic is showing the importance of having a broker to help out, suggests Darren Rodrigues, the new president of the Insurance Brokers of Toronto Region (IBTR). “In a…
How pandemic has changed Canadian food processing
April 21, 2020 Aleksandra Sagan - THE CANADIAN PRESSCampbell Soup Company’s production goes into overdrive during what executives dub “soup season.” Starting in October and ending with the close of winter, Campbell’s manufacturing centres run non-stop, staffed by extra employees. Since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer…
How insurance will be hurt by a lagging economy
April 20, 2020 by Adam MalikThe Canadian property and casualty insurance industry is okay — for now. But the longer the global COVID-19 pandemic drags on, the greater the risk that the economic fallout and financial instability will impact the industry’s financial position, warns MSA Research…
Hard market to continue with COVID-19: Fairfax
April 20, 2020 by Greg MeckbachNorthbridge Insurance’s premiums are up 20% compared to early 2019 and hard market conditions will continue, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. officials said Thursday. “The hard market conditions that we have been experiencing through 2019 and into the first quarter of…