General Accident becomes CGU
April 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterThis month, insurer General Accident will officially change its name to CGU Group Ltd. The Canadian operation will operate as CGU Insurance Company of Canada. According to head of corporate communications Diane Scott, the change harmonizes the Canadian name with…
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,…
Jury out on mandatory mediation
April 1, 1999 Lowell ConnThe City of Toronto’s new mandatory mediation program could result in quicker and more efficient resolutions of insurance lawsuits, lawyer Paul Iacano told a packed conference room at a seminar at the recently held Claims ’99 Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association…
globally Speaking
April 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorThe CICMA and CIAA 99 Joint Conference – held in Toronto in February – focused on the competitive challenges reshaping the p&c insurance industry. The overall message delivered at the event was clear: the process of industry change, mainly as…
Cat hits on U.S.
April 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterJanuary 1999 was the third-costliest January for the U.S. in terms of catastrophe claims on record with insurers paying an estimated $1.75 billion in damages. The claims result from four events, according to Insurance Services Office, Inc.’s Property Claim Services…
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…
Lindsey Morden changes name
April 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterLindsey Morden Claims Services Ltd. has officially changed its name to Cunningham Lindsey Canada Ltd., a move to harmonize the company’s identity worldwide. “As a large, strong global company, sharing this common identity amongst our claims and risk management services…
MINERS looking for global risk partners
April 1, 1999 Ken Fedosen and Eugene Iacob of Zurich Global EnergyDespite plummeting international commodity values — which over the last decade have made mining equities less than the darlings of stock markets — the Canadian mining industry is expanding at a healthy clip. It is estimated that 100 new mines…
Banks will be hard to regulate, says Cooke
April 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterProperty & casualty insurance is a pure risk product that must be kept separate from the financial, wealth management and investment-based services provided by life insurers and banks, George Cooke, president of Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company, told a…
Hi-Alta acquisitions continue
April 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterLewis & Wright Insurance Inc. of Grand Prairie and Soltys Insurance Services Ltd. of Edson, represent the two latest Alberta acquisitions by broker network Hi-Alta Capital Inc. (TSE:HIA). Lewis & Wright will add $6 million in premium to the network,…
Brokers concede commission disclosure
March 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterRisk managers believe they have gained a small victory on the quality of service battleground with the insurance industry. The Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc. (RIMS) and global-brokers J&H Marsh & McLennan recently issued a joint statement to the…
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…