Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Canadian insured losses from catastrophic events in 2024 totalled CAD $8.5 billion Toronto, ON (Jan. 15, 2025) – The magnitude of catastrophic events experienced across Canada in 2024 pushed the insured loss total for the region to CAN $8.5 billion, according to CatIQ, Canada’s insured loss and exposure indices provider. In addition to the unprecedented losses, the number of total catastrophe claims exceeded 273,000, far in excess of the previous record of 197,000 in 2016. The insured loss figure of CAN $8.5 billion makes 2024 the largest loss year for the country on record, far exceeding the previous record of CAN $6.2 billion recorded in 2016. The largest insured loss years (adjusted for inflation) are: 1. 2024 – CAN $8.5 billion2. 2016 – CAN $6.2 billion3. 2013 – CAN $3.9 billion4. 2023 – CAN $3.6 billion5. 2022 – CAN $3.5 billion While the number of events that generated insured losses in excess of CAN $30 million – which CatIQ categorizes as a catastrophe – was on par with the annual average at 12, the fact that four events generated losses of CAN $1 billion or above made 2024 a record-breaking year. In less than a month, Canada recorded four new...

83% of IT decision-makers across Canada reported progress on their AI strategies in 2024 More than half of Canadian respondents (56%) plan to increase AI investment in 2025 Despite limited return on investment (ROI) so far, Canadian organizations are betting on AI in the long term, prioritizing innovation and productivity gains over traditional financial savings Toronto, ON (Jan. 15, 2025) – Canadian companies surveyed are investing in AI for the long term, with a growing interest in using open-source tools to drive ROI and innovation going forward, according to a new study commissioned by IBM. The study of more than 2,400 IT decision makers (ITDMs), conducted by Morning Consult and developed in collaboration with Lopez Research, revealed that 83% of Canadian respondents report making progress in executing their 2024 AI strategy, with 42% already seeing positive ROI from their AI investments. The data reveals that Canadian businesses are using a combination of buying or leasing AI tools from vendors (65%), using an open-source ecosystem (57%) as compared to in-house development (42%). “This is a crucial year to pivot on AI adoption in Canadian organizations and our success hinges on strategic investments across models, platforms and supporting our people,” said Deb Pimentel,...

Generative AI streamlines translation of member communications and documents for Medicare Advantage Organizations Toronto, ON (Jan. 15, 2025) – Messagepoint Inc. is pleased to announce that it has been named a winner for the second consecutive year in the 2025 BIG Innovation Awards, presented by the Business Intelligence Group, in the software category. The Healthcare Touchpoint Exchange, a SaaS solution designed to support Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) in preparing health plan materials, was recognized for its groundbreaking new AI-powered translation capabilities. “The demand for translated Medicare Advantage materials has surged in the last few years due to regulatory changes and growing recognition of diverse member needs. For years, MAOs have relied on fragmented, expensive and time-consuming translation services for member materials, frequently rushing to meet the stringent deadlines of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,” said Sohail Malik, vice president, Healthcare Solutions at Messagepoint. “Messagepoint’s AI-powered translation and translation accuracy checks enable translation of these complex materials faster, more affordably and with greater accuracy than ever before. We’re honored to be recognized by the Business Intelligence Group for this innovation.” The Healthcare Touchpoint Exchange leverages Messagepoint’s no-code content authoring environment to automate and streamline the preparation of complex, regulated...

Toronto, ON (Jan. 14, 2024) – Crawford Technologies, provider of innovative document solutions that streamline, improve and manage customer communications, is pleased to is pleased to share that it closed 2024 with strong growth. A 9% year-over-year increase drove top-line revenue to its highest point in the company’s 29-year history. Crawford Technologies attributes its continued success to being closely attuned to its customers’ most critical business needs, resulting in solutions and services that fully support their evolving requirements in a competitive market landscape. In addition to the impressive financial results, Crawford Technologies achieved milestones in customer satisfaction due to a company-wide focus on customer-focused initiatives that included the integration of an AI-powered chatbot into its website to provide instant customer support. Additionally, it reported that 90% of new customers adopted its subscription-based services, another validation of the business value Crawford Technologies’ solutions bring to organizations and its high regard for long-term customer partnerships. Milestones in customer satisfaction also included an increase in the company’s Net Promoter Score (NPS), which rose from 73 to 81, underscoring an impressive return on its commitment to delivering continued positive customer experiences. Providing a positive experience is part of the company’s internal culture as well....

Eight projects were granted a total of $5 million to support the development and deployment of novel insurance solutions that promote and increase the adoption of energy transition technologies New York, NY (Jan. 14, 2025) — InnSure, a nonprofit innovation hub catalyzing novel insurance solutions that address climate change risk, is pleased to announce the winners of the $5 million Insurance Innovation Prize. The program, administered by InnSure and supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), offers awards for the development and deployment of novel insurance solutions that promote and increase the adoption of energy transition technologies. Each winning project will promote the launch of solutions that fill insurance coverage gaps for the most emissive sectors: energy, buildings, and transportation, in New York and across the nation. The Prize winners are as follows: EcoStrat and New Energy Risk are partnering to provide feedstock supply insurance, which de-risks and stabilizes biomass feedstock supply chains, enabling the commercialization and financing of breakthrough technologies in the bioenergy markets. Energetic Capital is creating an embedded tax credit insurance policy to reduce transaction costs and enable more tax investment for small- and medium-sized projects. EVStar is bringing extended warranty policies...