Ontario PCs historically ‘very receptive’ to auto rate reform: Intact CEO
August 9, 2018 by Greg MeckbachOntario’s newly-elected government has been silent on auto insurance reform, but the head of Canada’s largest property and casualty insurance carrier is encouraged by the Progressive Conservative Party’s historical leaning towards loosening rate regulation. The Progressive Conservative Party was returned…
How the old catastrophic impairment definition still affects Ontario auto insurers
August 8, 2018 by Greg MeckbachIt has been more than two years since Ontario changed the definition of catastrophic impairment, but Canada’s largest auto insurer is still dealing with claims that arose under the old cat definition. “Clearly, people are trying to get as much…
New Canadian auto insurance product coming soon
August 7, 2018 by Greg MeckbachIntact Insurance will be soon launching a new iteration of its usage-based auto insurance (UBI), a company official says. The revelation came during a July 31, 2018 conference call about the insurer’s past quarter results. During the call, an investment…
Big Data is bringing credit score issue to the fore
July 29, 2018 by Greg MeckbachAs insurers’ computer databases get exponentially larger, the controversy around the use of credit scores in rating property coverage is getting intense. Customers are asking for “transparency” from insurers on how they price and underwrite insurance, Jean-François Larochelle, director of…
Intact explores blockchain’s insurance potential
July 29, 2018 by Greg MeckbachOne of the “disruptive promises” of blockchain is the ability to use it for insurance, and Canada’s largest insurer confirmed recently that it is exploring its potential. Thus far, however, blockchain “is still [a research and development] project” at Intact Insurance, Jean-François…
Will telematics make territory-based rating a thing of the past?
July 24, 2018 by Greg MeckbachThe use of telematics in pricing auto insurance is going to become more “prevalent,” and a major property and casualty insurer is trying to use the technology to get a better idea of driver risk, speakers said during a recent…
Winter tire claims statistics took biggest insurer by surprise
July 22, 2018 by Greg MeckbachWhen Intact started giving discounts on auto insurance to people with winter tires, the result appeared to be counter-intuitive. Motorists insured by Intact who reported having winter tires installed “were having worse loss ratios” than those driving in the winter…
Intact reports ‘world of difference’ with telematics
June 20, 2018 by Greg MeckbachHard numbers showing the impact of telematics remain elusive, but Canada’s largest property and casualty insurer says the technology does separate the good risks from the bad. Telematics is a vehicle diagnosis technology that collects data such as distance travelled,…
Why this broker takes exception to usage-based auto insurance app
June 19, 2018 by Greg MeckbachUsage-based insurance has raised the profile of insurers on consumers’ electronic devices, and this could be bad news for some brokers. Several auto insurers are using UBI to offer discounts based on data gather from telematics. That technology lets insurers…
An overlooked consequence of basement flooding
June 13, 2018 by Greg MeckbachIf your home insurance client is an entrepreneur, consider what happens to that client’s business if his or her home basement gets flooded. A case in point is Laila and Zafar Ismaili, a married couple who own Enviro Digital Printing…
Will more Canadian commercial insurers look south for acquisition targets?
April 26, 2018 by Greg MeckbachBuying American commercial insurers is a “strategy that could prove rewarding” for Canadian insurance companies, executives from Toronto-based DBRS wrote in a report released Thursday. Expanding into the U.S. commercial space “requires significant resources,” wrote Stewart McIlwraith, senior vice president…
Workplace injury could be covered by CGL policy, triggering insurer’s duty to defend: Court
March 19, 2018 by Greg MeckbachIntact has a duty to defend a lawsuit arising from a workplace injury under a commercial general liability policy, the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled. Normally workplace injuries are covered under no-fault provincial workers compensation programs rather than by property…