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…
Queensway hits investment snag
April 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterTSE-listed Queensway Financial Holdings (QFH) posted a 59% drop in earnings a share to 52c for the financial year ended December 1998 compared with the previous year. The company’s directors attribute the earnings decline primarily as a result of a…
Revenue drop grounds St. Paul
April 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterSt. Paul Companies, an insurance and reinsurance group and the parent of St. Paul Canada — has released its yearend 1998 figures posting a dramatic decrease in earnings over 1997. Net income plummeted from 1997’s US$929 million to $89.3 million…
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,…
D&O profit margins decrease
April 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterIntense competition, increasing litigation and the rising cost of claims is decreasing profitability in directors and officers (D&O) liability insurance market, a panel of executives told the D&O Liability and Issues Symposium sponsored by the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS).…
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…
Coming Events (March 01, 1999)
March 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterAnnouncements in Coming Events are run free of charge as a service to the industry. Items should be submitted by the first of the month prior to the month in which the announcement is to appear. Insurance Bureau of Canada:…
Skills in risk
March 1, 1999 Richard Saylor, a risk management consultant and former risk & iEvery end is a new beginning. This has never been truer than in today’s fast paced world where everyone and everything is constantly being reinvented. As I look at my career in the risk management field, I can see that…
Lombard and London Guarantee tie the knot
March 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterRichard Patina, president of Lombard Commercial Lines and Robert Taylor, president of London Guarantee have announced the formation of a strategic alliance between the two insurance companies to refer business that falls within their respective areas of specialty. Lombard will…
Risk Management: It’s a Buyer’s Market
March 1, 1999 Lowell Conn and Sean van ZylDespite deteriorating conditions in the property and casualty insurance market, insurers continue to slash already low premium rates. Market observers forecast this trend to continue for at least 24 months as insurers prioritize marketshare over revenue prosperity. Simply put, the…
The lights dim on
March 1, 1999 Ted Belton, director of research at RBC Underwriting ManagementThe fair-weather profit years which the property and casualty insurance industry has enjoyed since the mid-1990s is likely to run into a storm in 1999 with companies generating single digit returns on equity (ROE). Projections based on third-quarter StatsCan data…
Y2K claimants here already
March 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterThe ramifications of the millennium bug are already hitting insurers, says Crawford Adjusters Canada vice president Glenn Gibson, who recently addressed a capacity crowd at the SCOR Canada/Lang Michener Claims Symposium in Toronto. Already in the U.S. – where the…