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…
Liberty Risk Services’ LEADING-EDGE APPROACH to bottom-line savings
March 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterHealth management services have been an all or none proposition for corporate Canada. A company traditionally has to buy a bundle of services from one provider or assemble a program from a group of vendors. Liberty Risk Services Canada wants…
Dominion sets Chieftain launch
March 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterDominion of Canada General Insurance has joined the growing rank of insurance companies offering broker call centre services. In the spring of this year Dominion will launch Chieftain Insurance in the Alberta and Ontario personal lines markets. Dominion president George…
WWW.SEEKING YOU
February 1, 1999 Andy WalkerInstant communication has come to the computer desktop through a miraculous little software company called Mirabilis. The Tel Aviv based company has revolutionized communication across the Internet with its innovative little program called ICQ which translates to the not-quite-acronym “I…
Solutions from the Ashes
February 1, 1999 Lowell ConnThe Synchron initiative, once heralded as the industry’s ultimate electronic interface solution between companies and point of sale, collapsed last year. From its ashes have risen several alternative solutions, one of the most prominent being The Freedom Alliance, a strategic…
Call centres notch premiums
February 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterPremiums generated by call centres in Canada have risen by 96% since 1994, says Ted Belton who addressed the Strategy Institute Call Centre Conference recently. Belton notes the more traditional distribution methods generated premiums at a lower 20% growth rate…
AutoRate Warning
February 1, 1999 Linda Matthews, COO of Royal & SunAllianceOntario’s auto insurance regulations under Bill 59, and the latest revisions under Bill 90, have created a unique legislative environment in the provincial governing of consumer insurance. So much so that several provincial insurance regulators have eyed the legislation as…
AXA forms Quebec bank alliance
February 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterIn response to the opening up of Quebec’s insurance market to the Caisse Populaire Desjardins through the controversial Bill 188 which was passed by the province last summer, AXA Insurance has entered into a marketing partnership with National Bank to…
Aces high
February 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterBermuda-based ACE Ltd., listed on the NYSE, has acquired the global property and casualty insurance operations of CIGNA Corporation for US$3.45 billion. Subject to regulatory approval by the end of June this year, the deal will be cash financed which…
Insurer concerns taxi for take off
January 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorConsolidation and cost cutting became the corporate buzzwords of the 1980s and 1990s, with operators from insurance to retail-chains through to the aviation industry embracing downsizing and cheaper marketing and delivery systems. The aviation business emerged from this process, particularly…
Sober Y2K predictions
January 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterThe recently held Employers Reinsurance Corporation seminar on Y2K risks delivered some serious food for thought. The most startling of the information revealed was delivered by the first three speakers who provided a broad outline of the technology disruption likely…
Bill 59 revised
January 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterThe legislative fine-tuning of Ontario’s auto insurance product under Bill 59, which carried through last month with the passing of Bill 90, was generally lauded by insurance, legal and medical professionals at a review seminar held by the Insurance Institute…