Canadian Underwriter


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VPNs Boost Customer Care

December 1, 2002 Richard Blacklock, AT&T Global Network Services

In the insurance industry, customer service is synonymous with success. In the current economic climate, insurers are focused on customer satisfaction and loyalty more than ever. But, delivering consistent and quality customer care is no small challenge. Companies need “anytime,

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New Technology Will Bring Big Changes

October 1, 2002 Ivor Kaye, Grantech Technologies

You don’t have to be a mystic to predict that the next five years are going to be a time of change for Canada’s insurance industry, particularly the broker-based property & casualty sector. This should not come as a surprise,

IBAC's 2002/3 executive committee (from the rightstanding) Brendan Wycks, Ken Orr and Keith Wilson. Seated is chair president Brian Gilbert and Ginny Bannerman.
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IBAC AGM: A “Level Playing-field”

October 1, 2002 Sean van Zyl, Editor

At the recently held Insurance Brokers Association of Canada (IBAC) AGM, newly elected president Brian Gilbert used a humorous analogy between the geography of his home province, Manitoba, in outlining the association’s long-term political cause to protect the legislative rights

News Insurance

XL Capital Ltd Announces Plans to Integrate Le Mans Re

June 17, 2002 by Canadian Underwriter

XL Capital Ltd (NYSE: XL), today announced that it plans to integrate its reinsurance operations following the ratification in January this year of XL’s previously announced acquisition of a 67% majority shareholding in Le Mans Re. Le Mans Re is

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Customer Retention and Claims Technology

June 1, 2002 Colin Smith, vice president of eClaims at Castek Software Inc.

As insurance consumers we are inundated with offers and incentives to buy insurance or to switch companies. Most of us stay right where we are until we are given an incentive to leave, which all too often comes in the

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Making a Statement to Clients

May 1, 2002 Steve Heck, managing director, Symcor Art & Logic

Take a moment and look at your insurance company from your customer’s perspective. They selected your product from a sea of competitors, perhaps having questioned brokers and waded through copious amounts of advertising. You likely managed to break through based

Background Photo: Chad Baker / Photodisc
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Breathing New Life Into Brokers

April 1, 2002 Andree Ryckman, a certified management consultant at Call Centre

Almost from the start of the Internet “boom”, pundits prophesied the death of the middleman. Everyone from high-profile technologists like Nicholas Negroponte to columnists in Wired and Fast Company declared that insurance brokers and other market intermediaries were stuck on the fast train to obsolescence. But those predictions are being proved wrong as the Internet promises to enable brokers as never before.

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CICMA/CIAA Joint Conference 2002 Focus on Indemnity

April 1, 2002 Vikki Spencer

There is widespread industry agreement that claims costs are spiraling out of control. The industry’s economic woes cannot simply be tied to inadequate rates, or even catastrophic events such as September 11. At the recent Joint Claims Conference in Toronto,

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Service for the Dis-Serviced

March 1, 2002 Suzanne Wintrob

When Canada’s financial services industries caught wind of a government proposal to build a national ombudsman service geared at regulating customer service under the regal eye of Ottawa, companies from banks, investment dealers to insurers reacted swiftly with the creation of their own “all-in-one” countrywide ombudsman service. But, the question remains, will this private sector initiative hold up under political as well as consumer scrutiny?

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Online Innovation Playing Catchup

February 1, 2002 Andree Ryckman, certified management consultant, Call Centre Con

The story of online insurance has been one of caution and, ultimately, missed opportunities in the past. But are things really changing? Are insurers starting to catch up to banks and other providers of financial services in the online realm? The answer, for the most part, is still “no”. So where does the industry go from here?

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Information at the Speed of Light

February 1, 2002 Kyle Urech, an account executive at Qunara Inc.

I would not want to be the CEO of an insurance company. Aside from traveling first class, CEOs have few luxuries. They face a dizzying array of problems with an equally large number of potential solutions from which to choose.

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Claims to Lead Technology Surge

January 1, 2002 Dale Hardy, president of Correlation Technologies Inc.

“Hub power” is likely going to be the next big technology push in the North American property and casualty insurance industry, with the claims handling arena at the forefront of this advancement. Are you ready?