Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

2024 mid-year update also examines impacts of risk aggregation events Ransomware claims severity spiked by 68% to an average loss of $353,000 throughout the first half of 2024 San Francisco, CA (Oct. 9, 2024) — Coalition, the world’s first Active Insurance provider designed to prevent digital risk before it strikes, has published its 2024 Cyber Claims Report: Mid-year Update, which details emerging cyber trends and their impact on Coalition policyholders throughout the first half of 2024. The report found that ransomware claims severity spiked by 68% to an average loss of $353,000. “Although the frequency of using ransomware as an attack strategy actually decreased this half, we saw a marked spike in the severity and demand amounts, especially those associated with the Play and BlackSuit ransom variants,” said Rob Jones, Coalition’s Head of Claims. “Despite the increase, we were able to cut ransom demands in half through successful negotiations by our affiliate Coalition Incident Response, but the facts remain clear: the use and impact of ransomware remains as volatile as ever.” While high ransomware demands came back in vogue, funds transfer fraud (FTF) saw a notable decrease in both frequency (2%) and severity (15%). Even with this decline, Coalition successfully...

Start Slideshow The Medicare Advantage plan and Medicare Part D prescription drug plan annual enrollment period is set to start Oct. 15. Agents and brokers are about to find out whether the upcoming enrollment will just be a little rocky, due to government subsidy cuts, marketing rule changes and Medicare drug plan benefits design changes, or so chaotic it will affect the general elections and any conversations about insurance and financial services administration and marketing that go on in Washington. Many members of the Senate and House are already old enough to be using Medicare, and they all hear regularly about problems with the program. That means anyone who is trying to shape financial services policy or trying to shape federal financial services policy has a stake in Medicare program performance. One simple indicator is the number of Medicare drug plans willing to work with agents and brokers. The United States has about 3,102 counties, parishes and similar types of jurisdictions. CMS presents plan counts at the county level. The producer compensation spreadsheets show that the average number of county-level drug plan entries offering compensation for agents and brokers will fall 25% in 2025, to 49,992, or 16 plans per county,...

Toronto, ON (Oct. 7, 2024) – CSIO is pleased to announce that all member Broker Management System (BMS) vendors – Acturis Limited, Applied Systems Canada, Logiciels Deltek Inc., Rival Insurance Technology and Vertafore Canada – have deployed the updated eDocs codes and descriptions into production for personal and commercial lines. This accomplishment supports insurers in their efforts to program and send clearly labelled eDocs. As a result, all brokers working with these vendors will receive the updated eDocs codes and descriptions in their BMS once released into production by insurers. Furthermore, this milestone demonstrates significant progress in an industry-wide initiative aimed at developing clear and concise eDocs for brokers. CSIO’s eDocs Implementation Steering Committee, comprised of brokers, insurers and these BMS vendors, oversees consistent implementation of the updated eDocs Standards. Widespread adoption is crucial for brokers to support operational efficiencies, as they no longer need to open every eDoc to determine its contents. “By programming the updated eDocs, our vendor partners are dedicated to improving workflows and removing pain points for brokers,” said Michael Loeters, Senior Vice President – Commercial Insurance, PROLINK and CSIO Board Vice Chairman. “Their success is a testament to the industry working together to enhance broker...

By Heather Turner, ReSource Pro — The insurance industry is known for being traditional and cautious, which often means adopting new technology later than other industries. But with the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) and other connected world technologies, insurers have the opportunity to tap into new data sources and unlock untapped potential. Today, more than 25 years since the IoT first emerged, billions of devices seamlessly connect to the internet. These span a diverse range of categories, from vehicles to property to machinery. Some within the insurance sector were quick to recognize the potential these devices held for enhancing risk management strategies. Even today, however, both personal and commercial carriers lag behind. Many are not taking advantage of the the full potential of the IoT for insurance. At ReSource Pro, we define “connected world technologies” as devices, sensors, and computing hardware that connect t othe internet, deliver real-time capabilities, and facilitate data-sharing across networks. The use of telematics in insurance Many people first think of telematics when they hear the term IoT. This is especially true for personal lines, where many auto insurers offer programs. Telematics devices can collect data on driving behaviors, such as speed, acceleration,...