Brokers concerned about blanket approach to binding authority restrictions
May 31, 2019 by Jason ContantWith wildfires raging in northern Alberta and Ontario, brokers are reporting some funky outcomes associated with insurers’ binding authority restrictions. Under the restrictions, brokers cannot bind coverage in areas under civil authority, forest fire alerts, flood alerts and certain earthquake…
Guess who’s in the flood prevention business now
May 30, 2019 by David GambrillWe’ve seen forensic engineering firms apply remediation methods to commercial and residential properties that were affected by flood damage. But now, as flooding has become more severe, they are in the vanguard of building comprehensive and tailored flood prevention and…
One way to cut time and effort from handling paper forms
May 30, 2019 by Greg MeckbachDo your workers spend hours typing information from paper forms into the computer? There are ways of automating this. “Nowadays, you probably have documents coming in and you put them on the scanner. When you are going to put them…
How Ontario got it right on surety
May 30, 2019 by Jason ContantThe federal government should follow Ontario’s lead in addressing contractor insolvency before the federal budget bill becomes law, says the Surety Association of Canada (SAC). The federal budget bill, Bill C-97, was tabled in March and passed second reading on…
Don’t count on self-driving cars being just around the corner
May 29, 2019 by Greg MeckbachIf you are led to believe most of your clients will get around in self-driving cars within a decade, you might want to think again. “Autonomous vehicles will likely not be on our roads for at least another 25-30 years,…
Pressure builds to end auto insurance monopoly
May 28, 2019 by Adam MalikCalls to end a provincial stranglehold on auto insurance are growing as business groups, municipalities and the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) have taken up the cause. ICBC, on the other hand, is saying the high claims costs the public…
Does an earthquake endorsement cover sinkhole damage?
May 28, 2019 by Jason ContantIf a home collapses into a sinkhole, is there coverage under a standard homeowner’s policy or earthquake endorsement? Not under many homeowner’s policies, but possibly under the earthquake endorsement, depending on the policy language and if the quake caused the…
This ‘leading practitioner’ in insurance law is now a judge
May 27, 2019 by Greg MeckbachCORRECTION NOTICE: In an earlier version of this story, Glen L.C. Noel was incorrectly identified as a lawyer representing Lloyd’s in Lawlor v. Royal. In fact, Noel represented Mary Lawlor in that case. Canadian Underwriter regrets the error. Glen L.C.…
This brokerage is the latest to get into employee benefits
May 24, 2019 by Jason ContantA family-owned brokerage in New Brunswick has become the latest brokerage to get into the employee benefits space. Personal and commercial lines brokerage Vienneau Insurance announced earlier this week that it has expanded its commercial insurance offering by acquiring the…
This restoration contracting acquisition should close by summer
May 24, 2019 by Greg MeckbachFirstOnSite and Paul Davis will have the same corporate owner if a deal announced Thursday goes through but will operate separately from one another. FirstOnSite Restoration Limited announced May 23 that its corporate parent, Global Restoration Holdings LLC, agreed to…
New cyber insurance platform offers quotes using single piece of data
May 23, 2019 by Jason ContantWhile online quote and bind systems have historically been cumbersome, one specialist insurer will soon offer a cyber insurance platform with single-question quoting capabilities. Using a single piece of client data, brokers will be able generate a cyber insurance quote…
Insurtech launches exclusive line of insurance
May 22, 2019 by Jason ContantAn insurtech that positions itself as the first Canadian company to specialize exclusively in tenant insurance has launched after months of research and development. Montreal-based Allset launched last week, using a “matching” algorithm to compare the tenant’s needs to over…