Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Markham, ON (Dec. 2, 2024) – McDougall Insurance Brokers Ltd. is pleased to announce that they have combined with Cornell Insurance Brokers Ltd., based in Markham, Ontario, and are welcoming Cornell’s excellent brokers to the McDougall Insurance team. “We have always admired Cornell as a business and hoped for an opportunity to work with them,” said Ross McDougall, CEO of McDougall Insurance. “We share the same customer-centric approach and commitment to our communities. McDougall looks forward to collaborating with Cornell to improve things for our collective clients in the GTA and across Canada.” Co-Ceo John Beadle and VP Patrick Hogan will remain with Cornell, along with the other members of Cornell’s leadership team, to continue to guide the brokerage into its next exciting chapter. “We know how important customer service is in this business,” says Beadle. “And we couldn’t be more confident that combining with McDougall is our path to elevate service to new heights. Cornell and McDougall have always conducted business the same way –our aligned values, culture, and approach will ensure a great fit and most importantly, success for both our clients and staff.” “Relationships and fairness is what Cornell does.” Added Mike Hannan, Cornell’s Co-CEO who is...

Vancouver, BC (Nov. 29, 2024) – AMC Insurance Services Ltd. is pleased to announce the acquisition of Kastelein Stout Insurance Agencies Inc., based in New Westminster, BC, effective November 15, 2024. This acquisition marks AMC’s 11th location and extends our presence into a vibrant new community we are eager to serve.Kastelein Stout Insurance Agencies has been a trusted provider of insurance services to the New Westminster community since 1963. “We are delighted to welcome the Kastelein Stout team to AMC,” said Jujhar Singh Parmar, Vice President of AMC Insurance. “With their longstanding reputation for exceptional service and deep ties to New Westminster, they are a perfect fit as we continue to grow and evolve. This partnership enables us to offer our full range of services to both existing AMC clients and Kastelein Stout’s loyal customers, ensuring they receive the same high level of care and expertise that define AMC.” This acquisition strengthens AMC’s ability to serve communities across Metro Vancouver and beyond, providing clients with more accessible, local options for all their insurance needs. The Kastelein Stout team will continue to operate from their current location, contributing their decades of industry expertise and personalized service to AMC’s expanding network. “We’re...

Alberta Motor Association, Ascot Group, and Mountain West Farm Bureau among award-winners recognized for meeting evolving market needs, improving customer experience, and enhancing operational efficiency via AI Nashville, TN (Nov. 21, 2024) – Guidewire congratulates the winners of its 2024 Innovation Awards: Alberta Motor Association, Ascot Group, and Mountain West Farm Bureau and its subsidiary 360 Insurance Company. This year’s awards honor Guidewire customers that are adapting to an accelerating pace of industry change and evolving customer needs in innovative ways. Winners were announced during Connections, Guidewire’s annual customer conference. The 2024 winners are: Alberta Motor Association for accelerating the delivery of Alberta’s first pay-as-you-go product and helping its customers to save up to 55% on their auto policy premiums.   Alberta Motor Association (AMA) transitioned to Guidewire Cloud in 2022 to free resources from maintaining an on-premises system, allowing the company to focus on innovation rather than operational overhead. This shift set the stage for AMA to leverage the Guidewire Usage-Based Insurance (UBI) Solution, which was critical to the development of its pay-as-you-go insurance product, AMA MyPace. AMA utilized the out-of-the-box capabilities of Guidewire’s UBI Solution to quickly operationalize Alberta’s first pay-as-you-go insurance product. The UBI solution provided technical advantages...

Equisoft’s technology solutions enable Emma to scale operations, elevate the customer and agent experience, and expand administrative capabilities. Montreal, QC (Nov. 28, 2024) – Equisoft, a leader in insurance and wealth management solutions, is excited to announce that Emma, a family-centric platform dedicated to making life insurance easy, affordable, and accessible, has selected Equisoft to support their growth and operational transformation. Founded in Quebec, Emma provides term and whole life insurance through partnerships with Humania, a leading Canadian insurer. To further enhance their digital platform, Emma is launching third-party administration (TPA) services and establishing an agent distribution network. With Equisoft’s cutting-edge technology, Emma is now equipped to manage TPA operations, including policy administration, payments, commission tracking and streamlined workflows. By implementing Equisoft’s comprehensive solution, Emma can scale its operations, introduce innovative services, and elevate customer experience as it expands its administrative capabilities. Equisoft’s solution empowers Emma to efficiently support agents and manage distribution channels. With this technology, Emma gains control over the client experience from start to finish, enabling a more personalized approach to service. By integrating Equisoft’s distribution management capabilities, Emma can effectively manage agent relationships while enhancing customer satisfaction. Olivier Lafontaine, Chief Product Officer at Equisoft, stated, “Emma...

Toronto, ON (Nov. 27, 2024) – CSIO is pleased to announce that Definity Financial Corporation has successfully implemented CSIO’s Application Programming Interface (API) Security Standards, earning them CSIO’s API Security Standards Certification. These Standards, created by CSIO’s INNOTECH Advisory Committee and its API Security Working Group, provide insurers and Broker Management System (BMS) vendors with a standard authentication and authorization API model. When an insurer or BMS vendor becomes Certified, they verify that all security concerns for API endpoints are mitigated. With this Certification, Definity’s broker partners can be confident that their data remains secure when accessing an API endpoint, such as obtaining a quote in their BMS. “Definity continues to pursue our ambition to be one of Canada’s most innovative property and casualty insurers by implementing solutions that benefit our customers and broker partners,” said Tatjana Lalkovic, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Definity. “This Certification provides brokers peace of mind that authorization and data flows are fully secured.” “We continue to invest in cyber security to support our commitments to customers and brokers,” added Bill Pearce, Vice President Information and Cyber Security, Definity. “This certification is an example of how we are ensuring we are adhering to...

Savvy insurers will seize the gen AI opportunities that intrigue their customers — By Christian Bieck, IBM Institute for Business Value, et al — For the insurance industry, is generative AI more of a risk or an opportunity? Insurance CEOs are equally divided: 49% say it’s more of a risk, 51% say it’s more of an opportunity. Industry executives anticipate using gen AI to fuel competitive advantage with improved sales, customer experiences, and organizational capabilities—but they are wary of the risks to cybersecurity and operations and the issues that can arise from inaccuracy and bias, according to the results of the IBM Institute for Business Value’s 2023 generative AI impact on hybrid cloud pulse survey of 414 executives. Regardless of the insurer tendency for prudence and risk mitigation, the pressure is on to seize the opportunities. A recent IBM survey of 5,000 executives across 24 countries and 25 industries revealed 77% of industry executives say they need to adopt gen AI quickly to keep up with rivals.  As insurance organizations walk a tightrope between rapidly building new gen AI capabilities and managing gen AI risk and compliance, they are pushing forward with adoption, based on new research from the IBM...