Canadian Underwriter


News InsuranceLegislation / Regulation

How Ontario government plans to work with industry on auto reform

April 18, 2019 by Greg Meckbach

The Ontario government plans to work with the industry on implementing a number of changes to auto insurance, including doubling accident benefits coverage for catastrophic impairment. In its 2019-20 budget document tabled Apr. 11, the government said motorists “should have

News ClaimsInsurance

How insurers can turn their salvage into social purpose

April 17, 2019 by Jason Contant

If your client has filed a claim after experiencing a major event like a flood or fire, it’s likely that contractors have removed salvageable materials that are still usable. For example, in the event of a kitchen flood, contractors may

News ClaimsInsurance

CU Total Loss Series: To repair, or not to repair?

April 17, 2019 by David Gambrill

Total Loss Series, Part 1:  Cycle Times Imagine Canada’s auto insurance industry saving millions of dollars each year in total loss costs and passing that along to Canadian drivers in the form of premium decreases. And all by simply reducing

News Insurance

This little piggie caused a $24-million subrogated claim

April 16, 2019 by Greg Meckbach

A $24.3-million lawsuit by an oil and gas company against a contractor over an accident that spilled 60 cubic metres of oil is one of Canada’s largest-ever subrogated claims, a lawyer for the plaintiff says. In ISH Energy Ltd v

Ontario legislature at Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario government
News InsuranceLegislation / Regulation

What the Ontario budget says about auto insurance

April 12, 2019 by Greg Meckbach

Credit scores could soon be used as one factor in determining Ontario auto rates, and the province plans to double coverage for catastrophic impairment, Finance Minister Vic Fedeli suggested in the budget document tabled Thursday. “Drivers should have the choice

News InsuranceTechnology

How usage-based insurance affects this carrier’s profits

April 12, 2019 by Greg Meckbach

Pembridge Insurance Company is asking brokers in four provinces to tell auto clients how much they could save by using a usage-based insurance app. Some motorists do not want usage-based insurance, Bob Tisdale, president of Pembridge, said Friday in an

News ClaimsInsurance

How the industry is tackling insurance fraud

April 12, 2019 by Jason Contant

Insurers need to work with regulators and other carriers to help fight the growing problem of insurance fraud, industry professionals say. Industry statistics show that insurance fraud costs $1.6 billion each year in Ontario alone. “As government reflects on the

News ClaimsInsurance

How Aviva is simplifying its claims process

April 10, 2019 by Jason Contant

Aviva Canada has worked with provincial regulators to simplify its products and the claims process for customers. “We’ve done that specifically for [accident benefits], where we got a lot of feedback from customers that the forms were confusing, they didn’t

News ClaimsInsurance

Insurers object to characterization of Ontario auto as “profitable”

April 9, 2019 by David Gambrill

Canada’s home, auto and business insurers are objecting to a recent characterization of Ontario’s auto insurance regime as “profitable.” “The current trends are unsustainable for both drivers and insurance companies,” Insurance Bureau of Canada vice president of Ontario Kim Donaldson

News InsuranceLegal

Ontario city partly liable in collision that injured four

April 8, 2019 by Greg Meckbach

A recent Supreme Court of Canada decision means the City of Hamilton is partly liable in a motor vehicle bodily injury lawsuit because there was no painted stop line immediately before an intersection. On June 16, 2007, a vehicle driven

News RiskTechnology

The downside risk of machine learning

April 8, 2019 by Greg Meckbach

Machine learning and artificial intelligence can create liability risk if it makes decisions that would be inappropriate or even illegal if a real person made them, a risk expert warns. “If you train an algorithm with data that has underlying

News Insurance

Why brokers need to check their dec pages

April 4, 2019 by David Gambrill

A Manitoba broker was fined $1,000 fine for not checking to make sure his client’s request for a Single Limit Endorsement was included as part of the client’s home insurance coverage. It wasn’t, as it turns out, and the client