Is wind “the new water” for Canada’s insurers?
April 25, 2019 by Jason ContantHigh winds contributed in part to most catastrophes in Canada over the past few decades, prompting the need for a new national standard on wind resilience, the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) said Thursday. A report released by ICLR…
Why moving to the cloud poses a greater security risk
April 24, 2019 by Jason ContantAs businesses increasingly move to the cloud to provide services, their cyber risk is also being greatly heightened, a cyber security professional told Canadian Underwriter recently. Many companies are outsourcing sensitive activities such as human resources or payroll to cloud…
One key ingredient missing from this province’s auto reform proposals
April 24, 2019 by David GambrillNewfoundland & Labrador has introduced a slew of changes intended to help stabilize insurance rates – and a cap on minor injuries, implemented in many other Canadian provinces, isn’t one of them. Instead, the provincial government is proposing to raise…
Is the industry taking a consistent approach to overland flood coverage?
April 23, 2019 by Jason ContantAre carriers taking a consistent approach to covering overland flood? The flood waters sweeping across New Brunswick and Quebec have brought the issue to the forefront. In general, overland flood was not covered in Canada until 2015; only sewer backup…
Spring melt floods thousands of Quebec homes
April 22, 2019 by Jason ContantNearly 2,400 homes in Quebec have been flooded following the spring melt in the province, according to statistics released early Monday morning by the provincial government. The flooding has resulted in the evacuation of more than 1,500 residents. The city…
CU Total Loss Series: To repair, or not to repair?
April 17, 2019 by David GambrillTotal Loss Series, Part 1: Cycle Times Imagine Canada’s auto insurance industry saving millions of dollars each year in total loss costs and passing that along to Canadian drivers in the form of premium decreases. And all by simply reducing…
Is the reserve release tank running on empty?
April 15, 2019 by David GambrillThe Canadian property and casualty industry saw its reserve releases contract in 2018 to their lowest level in seven years, according to MSA’s Q4 2018 Quarterly Outlook. Expressed as a percentage of loss development margin, reserve releases last year amounted…
Do your cyber clients have buyer’s remorse?
April 11, 2019 by Jason ContantAre you spending a lot of time dealing with “coverage leakage” and buyer’s remorse as it relates to cyber insurance? For smaller claims in particular, some clients may not have a cyber policy, but may try to recover out-of-pocket costs…
How this dry cleaner got sued over 50-year-old pollution
April 11, 2019 by Greg MeckbachAn Ottawa dry cleaner is liable for nearly $2 million in environmental clean-up costs resulting from spills that occurred at least 45 years ago, as a result of a Supreme Court of Canada ruling released Thursday. The top court’s ruling…
How Aviva is simplifying its claims process
April 10, 2019 by Jason ContantAviva Canada has worked with provincial regulators to simplify its products and the claims process for customers. “We’ve done that specifically for [accident benefits], where we got a lot of feedback from customers that the forms were confusing, they didn’t…
Two winter storms, one $70-million claims bill for insurers
April 9, 2019 by David GambrillThe busy catastrophe season in Canada thus far is continuing with no signs of slowing down. Two severe weather storms in Ontario this year, one in February and one in March, cost insurers more than $70 million in insured damage,…
How will reputational harm coverage evolve?
April 8, 2019 by Jason ContantWill reputational harm coverage grow into its own coverage or will it remain sublimited, as is often the case? There is currently a lot of variance within the market in how this coverage is offered, if at all. Some insurers…