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Canadian Underwriter and canadianunderwriter.ca Launch Free Insurance News Alert Service

January 1, 2002 by Canadian Underwriter

Welcome to your first edition of Canadian Underwriter magazine and canadianunderwriter.ca’s new Email News Alert Service for the Insurance Industry, called “At Your Personal Request”. This FREE Breaking News Alert Service will keep the market informed of the latest Insurance

News Insurance

Government airline cover could be permanent

December 10, 2001 by Canadian Underwriter

Coverage for airlines introduced by the government following the September 11 terrorist attacks could become a permanent measure, the National Post is reporting. This comes after an announcement by federal Transport Minister David Collenette that the temporary coverage, which involves

Feature

Terrorism Risks the Exclusion Dilemma

December 1, 2001 Brian Reeve, partner at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP

Terrorism exclusions in Canadian property policies, are they necessary? As the deadline for reinsurance renewals nears, many insurers are looking for alternative solutions to the vexing problem of providing – or not providing – coverage for terrorism related risks.

Feature

Mexico, Untapped Opportunities for Brokers

November 1, 2001 Peter Bassel, Toronto branch manager of Loyalist Insurance Broke

For Canadian brokers, the prospects of developing their existing client relationships by maximizing on the dramatic growth in Canadian business and tourism to and within Mexico is immense. The trick lies in not being overwhelmed by the prospect of dealing with foreign business practices.

Feature

The Risk of Terror: Attack on America: Impact on Aviation Covers

October 1, 2001 by Canadian Underwriter

While the impact that the terrorist attacks will have on the international insurance and reinsurance industry will not be fully known for many years, the effect on aviation covers was almost instantaneous.

Canadians gather at Parliament Hill in Ottawa to express their sympathy and mourn the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Feature

The Risk of Terror: Lessons From the Disaster

October 1, 2001 Vikki Spencer

As delegates at the 2001 Canadian Risk and Insurance Management Society (CRIMS) Conference learned of the tragic terrorist attacks carried out in the U.S. mid-way through the gathering, normal sessions were put aside and attention turned to the implications, both personal and professional, of these historic events. Amidst fears for co-workers possibly involved in the World Trade Center (WTC) crisis and a general outpouring of sympathy, risk managers tried to understand the disaster, and perhaps even take some lessons.

Feature

Attak of th Black Mold

September 1, 2001 Glenn McGillivray, assistant vice president and head of corporat

In 1928, while working on the influenza virus, Alexander Fleming observed that mold had developed accidentally on a staphylococcus culture plate and that it had created a bacteria-free circle around itself. He was inspired to further experiment and later found that a mold culture prevented growth of staphylococci, even when diluted 800 times. He named the active substance penicillin. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Feature

The Great Cell Debate

September 1, 2001 Vikki Spencer

As New York takes the first step in restricting driving and hand-held cell phones this year, a building debate is growing within Canada over safety and “dialing and driving”. Although several studies seem to support increased safety risk, provincial legislators remain hamstrung over the conflicting interests of the public and the telecommunications industry.

Feature

Blame the Car…

August 1, 2001 Sean van Zyl, Editor

Only a numskull politician could possibly suggest that cars are to blame for what their idiot drivers do. Yet, that seems to be the message Quebec’s (questionably) revered Minister of Transport, Guy Chevrette, has charged. At a recently held media

Feature

IICC improves VIN efficiency

March 1, 2001 by Canadian Underwriter

The Insurance Information Centre of Canada (IICC) says its member insurers in Ontario achieved a 98.19% reporting accuracy on vehicle identification numbers (VINs) for December 2000. The IICC established a joint project with the Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation in 1997

ILLUSTRATION: GERALD HEYDENS
Feature

The secret behind CSR good talent

January 1, 2001 Axiom

As the company’s senior marketing representative, it was an annual ritual. Every January, I invited a group of my lead brokers to my house for an afternoon of wine tasting followed by a large and calorie-rich dinner. It was now

Feature

Natural Catastrophes: An Increasing Trend?

December 1, 2000 Donald Keefe, manager of engineering property and special risks

Last year was one of the worst years in the 1990s for natural catastrophes worldwide. There were two major earthquakes in Turkey and one in Taiwan, Columbia, Mexico and Greece, making 1999 the year most severely affected by earthquakes since 1976. The earthquakes in Turkey and Taiwan claimed the lives of over 20,000 people and resulted in economic losses of approximately US$ 26 billion.