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Lac-Mégantic residents seek economic and moral damages

June 10, 2018 Sidhartha Banerjee - THE CANADIAN PRESS

MONTREAL – A new group of mostly Lac-Megantic residents is seeking authorization from Quebec Superior Court to sue for economic and moral damages worth upwards of $5 million relating to the Lac-Megantic rail tragedy in 2013. Train engineer Tom Harding,

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Feds seek input on railroad insurance rules

June 6, 2018 by Greg Meckbach

Should Canada’s rules on railway insurance be changed? If your answer is yes, contact the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) within the next four months explaining why. CTA, which has the power to issue and revoke certificates of fitness for federally-regulated

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Where Canada sits with overland flood insurance

June 5, 2018 by Greg Meckbach

Five years after massive flooding caused more than $4 billion in uninsured losses in Alberta, more than a dozen insurers representing about three-fourths of Canada’s property insurance market are now covering overland flood. Sixteen insurers representing 77% of the market

News InsuranceLegislation / Regulation

New Brunswick says flood hit homes may not get approval for rebuild

June 5, 2018 Kevin Bissett - THE CANADIAN PRESS

FREDERICTON – New Brunswick flood victims may not be able to rebuild their homes – or only rebuild after significant mitigation efforts like raising them. The destructive, record-setting spring floods along the Saint John River and other waterways have prompted

News CatastrophesClaimsClimate ChangeInsurance

May windstorm largest insured event in Ontario in five years: CatIQ

June 1, 2018 by Jason Contant

The early May windstorm that struck Ontario and parts of Quebec topped $410 million, the costliest insured event since the 2013 Toronto floods, Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ) said Friday. The majority of the damage from the windstorm –

News ClaimsInsuranceMarkets / Coverages

How new overland flood policies affect disaster assistance eligibility

May 29, 2018 by Jason Contant

Given recent flooding in Grand Forks and other areas of B.C., questions remain about the interplay between overland flood policies and how Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA) in B.C. factors into the response. Various insurance coverages for overland flood are new,

News InsuranceLegislation / Regulation

One way IFRS 17 might actually offer “business value”

May 20, 2018 by David Gambrill

While many in the P&C industry view IFRS 17 as an expensive time-suck that offers “no business value,” others believe the new financial standard could be a boon for product pricing. “One thing I’m really hoping that IFRS 17 [can

News InsuranceMarkets / Coverages

What Fairfax’s CEO is saying about interest rates

May 19, 2018 by Greg Meckbach

As Canadian insurers struggle with auto claims and weather-related losses, relief may be in sight in the form of interest rate increases. “We think interest rates will go up over time because the economy of the U.S. is doing very

News InsuranceMarkets / Coverages

The latest home insurance product for brokers to figure out

May 19, 2018 by Greg Meckbach

With equipment breakdown and other new coverages available from homeowners’ insurance carriers, brokers need to make sure their clients or prospective clients are aware of their options, a Regina-based broker warns. “There are so many new products” available in homeowner

News CatastrophesClaimsInsurance

No hard market despite 2017 hurricane losses: Fairfax

May 17, 2018 by Greg Meckbach

Despite nearly US$100 billion in hurricane losses in 2017, insurance buyers are not experiencing a hard market like they did after the 2001 terror attacks that brought the World Trade Centre down, the head of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. suggests.

News CatastrophesClimate ChangeInsurance

‘Many more significant losses’ due to climate change: Economical execs

May 11, 2018 by Greg Meckbach

Climate change was top of mind Monday for executives at Economical Insurance, which was hit with 11 weather catastrophes in 2017. “Climate change has resulted in many more significant losses from water and wind events,” said Gerald Hooper, a former

News ClaimsInsurance

What claims Crawford expects to see from New Brunswick flooding

May 10, 2018 by Jason Contant

Claims adjuster Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc. is anticipating “numerous water damage claims to homes, business and automobiles” as a result of the flooding in New Brunswick. Shelley Landry, director of operations of Crawford Canada’s Atlantic region, told Canadian Underwriter