Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Staff | October 29, 2020 The costs of employer-provided health plans in Canada are expected to rise seven per cent next year, outpacing general inflation by more than five per cent, according to a new report by Aon Canada. Contributing factors include higher drug prices, the impact of non-communicable health risks and the continued introduction of new and expensive therapies. Indeed, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and mental health are the most prevalent conditions driving employer-sponsored health-care claims across the country, noted the report. Globally, the report is forecasting the costs of employer-sponsored medical plans to increase 7.2 per cent in 2021, mainly due to expanded benefits, increased unit costs for medical services and a decrease in expected general inflation. Read: Employer health-care costs set to rise in 2021 due to pandemic: report The forecast was based on the expected 2020 claims levels and didn’t factor in the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. It also assumed the extent of lockdowns impacting the use of medical benefits will be limited in the future. Based on the analysis, health per capita claims on an annualized basis were expected to be almost 10 per cent lower than 2020 expectations and dental per capita claims were expected to be more than 20 per cent...

Contact tracing for workspace safety management: Collaboration addresses businesses’ growing need for a fully digital risk-mitigation platform to help keep offices, teams and customers safe from COVID-19 Toronto, ON (Oct. 27, 2020) – Every business that opens its doors during the COVID-19 pandemic needs a plan to help prevent and reduce virus spread, and that starts with employees and patrons in their space. Employers and employees are prioritizing safety in the workplace and often struggle in how best to achieve that and communicate their efforts confidently. Aon plc, a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions, announces a strategic partnership with OPN’s mobile platform as an offer to help clients address new challenges brought on by the pandemic and new requirements by Health Canada. The partnership is designed to add value for current clients and to bring more awareness to these capabilities. “Business owners, manufacturers and enterprises alike are concerned about making a safe return to their offices and workspaces and our new reality requires innovative solutions that help protect the health of their employees and enable business continuity,” says Kelly MacDonald, SVP, Sales Leader Central Region, Aon. “More than a technology...

Staff | October 29, 2020 While working Canadians expect to retire, on average, at age 62, they’ll require $878,000 in retirement savings, more than twice the amount of current retirees, according to a new study by Mackenzie Investments. It found 45 per cent of respondents who are still working said they plan to continue doing so in some capacity, compared to just nine per cent of those who are currently retired. And while the survey found respondents had relatively low awareness and comfort with concepts like managing investments post-retirement and retirement budgeting, many wished to be more knowledgeable. Read: Older Canadians coping better than younger demographics in pandemic: study Another survey, published this week in advance of Financial Literacy Month, found the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is significantly affecting Canadians’ financial health and outlooks. According to the report by FP Canada, 30 per cent of respondents said they likely won’t financially recover from the crisis, a figure that increased to 36 per cent among Canadians between the ages of 45 and 54. Forty-one per cent said they’re in a worse financial situation today than before the pandemic began, while 42 per cent said they weren’t in a financial position to weather the second wave. More...

New solution simplifies device data extraction to help U.S. insurers improve product offerings Atlanta, GA (Oct. 26, 2020) – LexisNexis® Risk Solutions and Yonomi Smart Home have joined forces to develop an innovative turnkey home insurance Internet of Things (IoT) solution. The proof of concept will include a smartphone app that participating policyholders can download at the request of their insurer. The app uses smartphone and device sensors to find common IoT devices in the home, creating a data feed to LexisNexis Risk Solutions. The insights collected, such as utilization statistics and loss correlation trends, will be packaged and provided to the insurer. According to recent LexisNexis Connected Home and IoT research, 78% of connected home device owners are willing to share data from their devices with their insurance companies to assist in policy pricing, which shows that consumers are ready to bring connected home technology into their insurance experience. While many insurers are embarking on strategies that include shipping devices to customers, opportunities exist to leverage the devices that consumers already own without adding another level of complexity. “Our analytics capabilities serve as the bridge between these new data sources and insurance companies across the market,” said Dan Davis,...

Insurers should have a clear understanding of their intended use case and whether their needs are best served by a Core-, CCM-, or DXP-CRM platform: Novarica Boston, MA (Oct. 13, 2020) – With the growth of digital engagement as a key priority, the “customer relationship management” —or CRM—market has expanded to include a wide range of disparate solutions. In a new executive brief, CRM in Insurance: Overview and Key Issues, research and advisory firm Novarica categorizes three types of CRMs and how they differ in origin, emphasis, complexity, scope, and the types of data they contain. In clarifying this space, Novarica advises insurers have a clear understanding of what type of CRM they have in mind. “Insurers should start with the use cases and capabilities they hope to enable using a CRM, and then begin to approach vendors,” said Paul Legutko, VP of Digital Marketing and Analytics and author of Novarica’s new report. “Simply building or buying a CRM doesn’t ensure that its capabilities will be used, and, at worst, a CRM could be stood up whose features aren’t needed, by organizations who need certain capabilities that the CRM ends up lacking.” Click here for the table of contents or...

The new agency management system will allow Financière S_entiel to connect all stakeholders for streamlined insurance distribution and commission management Montreal, QC (Oct. 27, 2020) – Equisoft, a global provider of digital business solutions for the insurance and wealth industries, is pleased to announce that Financière S_entiel has gone live with its agency management system, Equisoft/centralize. Founded in 1982, Financière S_entiel is known as one of the pioneers of independent insurance brokerages and financial services in Québec. In 2007, the firm joined the AgenZ group (along with Peak Insurance Services) which is currently the third largest MGA in Quebec with over 1,500 advisors. “This launch is really aligned with the trends shaping our industry right now, in terms of enabling increased automation, connectivity between systems and quick access for our advisors. This is what advisors want, and their expectations will only increase over time,” said Financière S_entiel’s President, Dominic Demers. “Adopting a powerful back-office like Equisoft/centralize suits our needs perfectly. Not only does it meet our immediate requirements, but we feel that it paves the way for the application of artificial intelligence in our industry. We’re very happy with our experience, and our technological future is assured.” Equisoft/centralize is a...

PR Newswire Today, John Hancock announced the expansion of its Apple Watch program to include the recently announced Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE for life insurance customers participating in the John Hancock Vitality Program, which rewards customers for the everyday things they do to live longer, healthier lives. Beginning this fall, John Hancock Vitality PLUS members can earn an Apple Watch Series 6 or Apple Watch SE for as little as $25 plus tax by exercising regularly.* “While John Hancock Vitality offers something for everyone, it can be especially impactful and beneficial for people in higher-risk health categories or those who are concerned about their personal health — something that is top of mind for many right now,” said Brooks Tingle, president and CEO of John Hancock Insurance. “Consumers are more mindful of their mortality and we’ve seen an increase in the demand for life insurance. In addition, people are more aware of their baseline health. That’s why we believe we have the right solutions for this time in history — life insurance that provides essential protection in the event of death, combined with the latest in personal health technology, including Apple Watch, to help our customers live longer,...

Melissa Dunne | October 29, 2020 Like a spiky meteorite, when the coronavirus pandemic hit earlier this year it demolished employer’s best-laid plans and is forcing them to find innovative ways to support, motivate and retain employees.  During a virtual roundtable on Oct. 16, the 2020 Workplace Benefits Awards finalists discussed how they’ve quickly responded to everything from employee mental health to supporting financial wellness to motivating employees during this once-in-a-century crisis.  “We’ve seen from our mental-health index that the population has had a major decline in mental health, high anxiety, depression and lower optimism — really a decline like we’ve never experienced ever before,” said Paula Allen, senior vice-president of research, analytics and innovation at Morneau Shepell Ltd., during the roundtable. Read: 81% of Canadians say coronavirus is negatively affecting their mental health: survey “But [for] those employees who said they had employers who supported mental health, their decline was negligible, if they were inconsistent it was a bit worse and if employers didn’t focus on mental health at all, it was almost a crisis state.” Many of the finalists were already focused on supporting employee mental health well before the global pandemic, with the shutdown accelerating the shift to offering digital options. For example, CAA Club Group rolled out...

Lauren Bailey | October 29, 2020 With Canadian employees feeling the toll the coronavirus pandemic is taking on the economy, should policy-makers facilitate the use of workplace emergency savings plans? “We know from data that 28 per cent of Canadian households who are financially impacted by COVID in August were drawing down on their [tax-free savings accounts] and [registered retirement savings plans] just to make ends meet,” said Elizabeth Mulholland, chief executive officer of Prosper Canada, during a webinar hosted by the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan and Common Wealth on Tuesday. She noted employees need workplace savings plans now more than ever, with the pandemic acting as a huge wake-up call about Canadians’ general financial vulnerability and, in particular, for those in the low-wage or non-profit sectors. Read: Should early access to retirement funds be allowed due to coronavirus? “Forty-seven per cent of workers are freelance, contract or part time and, as a result, 850,000 workers in the non-profit sector have access to no kind of retirement savings plan,” she said. “Financial insecurity is a fact of life for many people in our sector and COVID has obviously made this worse — not just in our sector but for Canadians more generally.” There’s a huge public benefit in getting...

Staff  | October 29, 2020 The Investment Management Corp. of Ontario has closed three private equity fund commitments totalling $1 billion. The three funds are: Kohlberg Investors IX, which aims to make control investments in North American middle-market companies in the business services, consumer, industrial manufacturing, health care and financial services sectors: Nordic Capital X, which aims to make control investments in Northern European middle-market companies in the health care, financial services and technology  and payments sectors; and North Haven Capital Partners VII, which focuses on control investments in North American middle-market companies in the business services, consumer, industrials, health care and education sectors. Read: IMCO focusing on liquidity, cost-efficiency amid coronavirus crisis “As we strive to geographically diversify our portfolio in resilient sectors supported by structural tailwinds, these funds proved to be the right opportunity for us to make a substantial commitment, which we believe will generate sound results for our clients,” said Craig Ferguson, managing director of private equity at the IMCO, in a press release. “Our flexibility and speed in deploying capital sets us apart in this market and are capabilities that both partners and clients value,” he added. “In combination with establishing strategic manager relationships, we are also scaling our...