Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

First Acre Insurance Inc. has increased its capacity of up to $25M with the help of Mutual Fire Insurance Burlington, ON (Sept. 10, 2024) – First Acre Insurance™ launched in early 2024 and has continually been adding capacity with the most recent addition of Mutual Fire Insurance. The capacity of up to $25M for property and liability coverage is currently provided by, Red River Mutual, Mutual Fire Insurance and Aviva Canada. ARAG Legal Solutions Inc. and Intact Insurance Company are also providing capacity for additional lines of coverage, while The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group is yet another key player supporting First Acre. “We are pleased to continue adding capacity partners to our portfolio and achieve up to $25M”, commented Robin Shufelt, CEO First Acre Insurance. “When we reached out to brokers for challenges they face, capacity was at the top, especially as building and machinery values continue to increase. We will continue to look for ways to assist farmers to get the coverage they need.” “Farmers in Canada have faced many obstacles over the last few years, and we feel insurance shouldn’t be one of them. Mutual Fire Insurance is excited to have partnered with and provide capacity for First...

Company’s membership model incentivizes excellent service and helps keep premiums fair Toronto, ON (Sept. 10, 2024) – Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE), the policyholder-owned property and casualty insurer designed for successful, responsible homeowners, announces its first international expansion as it opens for business in Canada. This move introduces PURE’s unique reciprocal model to high net worth Canadians, starting in Ontario. “We aim to offer owners of Canada’s finest homes a new insurance option, building long-term relationships to make them safer, smarter and more resilient,” said Chris Sevdalis, Head of PURE’s Canada branch. “PURE’s unique model, which puts members first instead of shareholders, leads us to build a very different service experience, and we’re excited to introduce our fresh approach to high net worth Canadians.” A Model That Aligns Interests It can be hard for an insurance company to balance the interests of all stakeholders, but PURE’s reciprocal model helps do just that. As a reciprocal insurer, PURE is owned by its policyholders, also known as members. This member-owned model incentivizes PURE to charge the right price, not the highest, and to deliver exceptional solutions and service to members. Members are also eligible to receive annual contributions to their Subscriber Savings Accounts....

By Jake Palmer, Content Manager, Skopenow — Extreme weather has the ability to disrupt anything, including businesses, schools, government services, and personal lives. From hurricanes and blizzards to wildfires and flash floods, major weather events can grind daily life to a halt in an instant. When critical infrastructure goes down and traditional communication channels fail, maintaining situational awareness becomes extremely challenging. Open-source intelligence (OSINT) provides a powerful framework to help rescuers and first responders understand and react to these problems. By leveraging publicly available data, teams are able to keep track of these dynamic events and help protect people and assets. How Weather Disrupts Inclement conditions cause widespread disruptions in three primary ways. First, they often knock out communications infrastructure like cellular networks, internet services, and broadcast systems. Power grids are also frequently impacted, leaving individuals and organizations starved of both connectivity and electricity. This loss of traditional communication channels makes it very difficult to gather information and coordinate response efforts. Second, severe weather presents direct physical hazards to people’s safety as well as the threat of damage to property, assets, and resources in the affected areas. Dangerous conditions like heavy winds, flooding, wildfires, and more can promptly cut off...

Toronto, ON (Sept. 10, 2024) – CSIO is pleased to announce that Applied Systems Canada has earned Commercial Lines (CL) Data Standards Certification for the Business & Professional Services, Contractors, Retail and Real Estate industry segments, positioning future quoting innovation within Applied Epic. Applied has also added Real Estate to Applied Policy Works, enabling the delivery of accurate real-time quotes to brokers through an Application Programming Interface (API), with all four segments now available for both platforms. CSIO certifies insurers and Broker Management System (BMS) vendors for programming CL Data Standards based on industry segments. The Commercial Lines Working Group has published requirements for 12 industry segments, representing 376 Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) codes. Additionally, an insurer or BMS vendor can become certified in binding all industry segments. Brokers using Applied Policy Works can obtain commercial quotes in as little as 10 seconds from insurers who have programmed an API for these four segments. API quoting allows brokers to send and receive quotes directly within their BMS, eliminating the need to re-key data, log into portals, or email and call insurers to request a quote. “Applied’s commercial solutions are designed to simplify brokers’ day-to-day workflow through standardized data. Our...