Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Westland Benefits will be led by experienced benefits leader Matt Mann Surrey, BC (Mar. 26, 2025) – Westland Insurance is proud to announce the launch of its new benefits brand, Westland Benefits, in British Columbia, effective April 1st. This launch marks a significant milestone in Westland’s continued growth, uniting its acquired benefits firms under one powerful national brand to better serve businesses across Canada. Westland Benefits combines the personalized service and deep expertise of a boutique advisory firm with the scale, resources, and market influence of one of Canada’s largest insurance brokerages – offering employers of all sizes tailored, end-to-end benefits solutions. Westland Insurance has appointed Matt Mann as the President of Westland Benefits. With extensive expertise in the benefits space and proven leadership in the insurance industry, Mann will oversee the growth and expansion of Westland Benefits across Canada. “We’re excited to introduce Westland Benefits to BC,” said Jamie Lyons, President & CEO of Westland Insurance. “Over the past few years, we’ve made significant investments to strengthen our Employee Benefits offerings, including acquiring several high-performing advisory firms. Bringing these capabilities together under one unified brand – led by Matt – allows us to better serve our clients, compete more...

As the insurance industry faces a major workforce shortage, AI co-workers enable agencies and brokerages to automate repetitive work in submissions and servicing San Francisco, CA (Mar. 27, 2025) — Kay.ai, the AI co-worker designed to eliminate manual data entry work for insurance brokers and agencies, has raised $3 million in funding. The round was led by Wing VC, with participation from South Park Commons, 101 Weston Labs, and several angel investors. “The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the insurance industry will face a shortage of nearly 400,000 workers by 2026,” said Vishal Rohra, co-founder and CEO of Kay.ai. “Despite this looming talent shortage, brokers and agencies still spend up to 80% of their time on paperwork, weighed down by archaic systems and misaligned incentives. We eliminate that burden and act like a digital co-worker that handles the most tedious tasks so their team can focus on high-value work.” With AI co-workers, Kay introduces new technology that goes beyond traditional software or legacy RPA tools. These co-workers understand your process, interact with your tools on your behalf, and adapt with your preferences. This unlocks a whole range of workflows across submissions, renewals, and servicing that could not be...

Malvern, PA (Mar. 27, 2025) – The affordability of personal auto insurance is estimated to have deteriorated from 2021 through 2024 as insurance companies increase premiums to offset inflationary loss pressures, according to an updated study from the Insurance Research Council (IRC), an affiliate of The Institutes. Despite this recent deterioration, auto insurance is more affordable than in the mid-2000s. Auto Insurance Affordability: Countrywide Trends and State Comparisons looks at the average auto insurance expenditure as a percent of median income, which ranges from a low of 0.93% in North Dakota to a high of 2.67% in Louisiana. In 2022, the most recent year for which data are available, average expenditures were $1,127, and median household income was $74,580. Thus, U.S. households spent 1.51% of their income per vehicle on auto insurance, a slight increase from the previous year. Looking at long-term trends, auto insurance affordability improved over the past two decades. Between 2000 and 2022, median household income grew somewhat faster than auto insurance expenditures, causing the expenditure share of income to decline from 1.64% in 2000 to 1.51% in 2022. In other words, auto insurance was somewhat more affordable in 2022 than in 2000. “With the recent increases...

Corporate & Specialty insurer, HDI Global selects Guidewire PolicyCenter on Guidewire Cloud to enhance operational efficiency, improve customer experience, facilitate scalability, and leverage data-driven insights San Francisco, CA (Mar. 27, 2025) — HDI Global Insurance Company (HGIC), the U.S. subsidiary of international Corporate & Specialty insurer, HDI Global SE (HDI), and Guidewire are pleased to announce that HGIC has selected Guidewire PolicyCenter as its new system for policy administration and underwriting. The company will implement PolicyCenter on Guidewire Cloud by line of business, beginning with general liability. HGIC selected Guidewire PartnerConnect Consulting Global Strategic member Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) to lead the implementation project. “We selected PolicyCenter on Guidewire Cloud because Guidewire has the modern, resilient, scalable, and secure platform and market leadership, cloud and product maturity, and track record of successful implementation projects that we were looking for,” said HGIC Chief Underwriting Officer Marco Hensel. “PolicyCenter will impact our combined ratio over time through better, smarter underwriting, while reducing cost through increased efficiencies.” HGIC Chief Information and Transformation Officer (CITO) Kashif Syed added, “HDI is committed to innovation and excellence in the insurance sector. Our partnership with Guidewire aligns with our strategic vision to be a leader...