“We’re in a world where the ‘world of products’ is going to get even bigger,” predicts Norma Nielson, chair of insurance at the University of Calgary. A major issue arising from the “blurring of traditional product lines” and the multi-skills…
National harmonization of the licensing and regulation of the adjusting profession has become a hot topic for regulators and the insurance industry in Canada. Alberta’s recent Insurance Act rewrite included a step-licensing structure as well as a provision for mandatory…
We couldn’t have picked a worse day for the opening of my company’s new regional office. Gale-force winds had blasted into the city overnight, knocking down trees and power-lines, shutting down the airport, and tearing the roofs off new, unfinished…
“The elder statesman of Canadian Insurance Journalism, joined Canadian Underwriter as an assistant editor in 1952. What was to be a short stay between newspaper jobs ended up as a 33 year stint, 25 of it as managing editor. The…
Forecasting the U.S. insurance industry in recent years has been a rear view mirror exercise. The rate of growth in the industry has been in the same 2% to 3% range and profitability indicators have shown little change from year…
Intense 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).…
Health 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…
In response to the growing need for alternative and effective mechanisms in dealing with potential legal disputes, British Columbia’s insurance industry recently launched the Insurance Dispute Resolution Services of B.C. One of the more innovative features of this resolution process…
Every 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…
The risk management profession is coming of age, says Susan Meltzer the incoming president of the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. Meltzer will be the fifth Canadian president to take the reins of North America’s most prestigious organization representing the development of risk managers. She is also the first Canadian woman to occupy the presidency chair of RIMS, a task she does not find daunting in the least. Her message: it’s time for risk managers to look ahead.
Despite 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…
Bugs, big deals, bad spills and a certain public official’s sexual high crimes and misdemeanors were all key factors driving the corporate insurance market throughout 1998. And the same scary financial exposures will likely be very much in the minds…