Vector eases out B.C. market
March 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterVector Intermediaries Inc. (ASE: VTE) has entered into an agreement to sell its British Columbia operations. Regional vice president of Western Canada Rich Commerford has agreed to purchase Burnaby-based Charlton Insurance Agencies Ltd. as well as Macnaughton & Ward in…
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…
Ontario auto falls again
March 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterPrivate passenger auto insurance rates in Ontario decreased during the fourth quarter of 1998 according to the latest rate information published by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO). This is the 10th successive quarterly decrease since 1996. Of the…
Batten down the hatches FOR 99
March 1, 1999 Lowell Conn and Sean Van ZylReduced profitability, rising underwriting losses, increased competition and higher technology costs are likely to form the stage for the North American property and casualty insurance industry in 1999, according to the vast majority of respondents in an Insurance Information Institute (III) survey conducted at the annually held Joint Industry Forum which recently took place in New York City.
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…
Royal & SunAlliance in CG&B alliance
March 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterRoyal & SunAlliance Insurance Company of Canada has struck a strategic alliance with the Toronto-based broker network, CG&B Group. “We believe that in order for the CG&B Group to maintain our position as a profitable, growing and innovative firm we…
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…
Reliance launches earnings protection U.S.
March 1, 1999 by Canadian Underwriter-based Reliance National, a subsidiary of Reliance Group, has introduced Enterprise Earnings Protection Insurance (EEPI), the first insurance policy designed to protect publicly held companies against earnings disruption volatility and adverse results. EEPI covers a wide range of circumstances that…
New Year’s weather hit
March 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterThe snowstorm which almost buried Toronto for the first two weeks of the new year is expected to cost insurers roughly $50 million, the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) estimates. Around 115cm of snow fell on Toronto with heavy accumulations…
Weathering the storm
March 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorThere are few leaders in the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry applying an optimistic view of business and earnings growth in 1999. In fact, premium growth across the lines is unlikely to exceed the country’s expansion of gross domestic…
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…
Zurich acquires World Travel Protection
March 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterZurich Canada has announced the acquisition of World Travel Protection (WTP), a Canadian travel insurance assistance and administration company. WTP offers travel insurance administration, case management and health information services to large institutions in the affinity and employee group markets.…