Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Staff | October 8, 2020 Quebec is one step closer to allowing employers to introduce target-benefit pension plans.  On Wednesday, Eric Girard, Quebec’s minister of finance, tabled Bill 68, which was initially introduced in November 2019. The bill draws inspiration from a report by the expert panel on the future of the Quebec retirement system, which was published in 2013. “Quebec is taking an additional step to foster private savings, a cornerstone of our retirement income system,” he said, in a press release. “The bill will offer a new retirement plan option adapted to today’s conditions for the benefit of workers and employers.” Read: Quebec to introduce bill allowing target-benefit pension plans In Quebec, only certain companies in the pulp and paper sector are currently permitted to offer target-benefit plans to their employees. In 2016, Ottawa introduced Bill C-27 to allow the plan for employers under federal jurisdiction, but it was suspended.  The Quebec bill also proposes amendments to the Quebec Pension Plan to more broadly support parents who benefit from the supplement for disabled children requiring exceptional care during the period when they take care of their child. Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com

Staff | October 8, 2020 More than two-thirds (67 per cent) of working Canadians said they’d use video chat, web or telephone-based health support to consult with a mental-health practitioner, up 17 percentage points since 2019, according to a new survey by RBC Insurance.  The survey, which polled 1,001 employed or recently laid-off Canadians in July, also found the percentage of working Canadians who said they’d use video or telephone counselling also rose significantly, up 15 percentage points to 60 per cent this year. While there was a rise in people open to using virtual tools to support their mental health, many of those surveyed said they were using free options, given the financial uncertainty caused by the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Read: Mental health firmly in the spotlight due to impacts of coronavirus, says report Almost half (46 per cent) of respondents said they were talking to friends or family, while an equal percentage said they were getting outside or going for a walk and 29 per cent said they were exercising, doing yoga or practicing meditation. In comparison, only three per cent said they were using paid options such as a meditation or wellness app. The majority (62 per cent) of survey respondents ranked their mental...

Staff | October 7, 2020 One in four women in the U.S. are either considering downshifting their careers or leaving the workplace entirely, according to a new report by McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org. “The events of 2020 have turned workplaces upside down. Under the highly challenging circumstances of the COVID-19 crisis, many employees are struggling to do their jobs,” said the report. “Women in particular have been negatively impacted [and] the pandemic has also intensified challenges that women already face in the workplace.” Read: Editorial: Can working women have it all? The report is based on research from 317 companies employing more than 12 million people and includes survey responses from more than 40,000 employees at 47 companies. It found, in particular, working women who are also mothers are struggling. Mothers surveyed said they’re more than three times as likely as fathers to be responsible for most of the housework and caregiving during the pandemic. They also said they’re twice as likely as fathers to worry their performance at work was being judged negatively because of their caregiving duties during the past few months. “Working mothers have always worked a ‘double shift’ — a full day of work, followed by hours spent caring for children and doing household labour. Now...

Chicago, IL (Oct. 6, 2020) – Aon plc, a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions, has announced it is collaborating with Athenium Analytics to develop a next-generation claims quality platform to enable insurers to identify high-risk claims. The new capability will enhance the policyholder experience while achieving an estimated 4-6% improvement in claims indemnity and expenses, according to Aon analysis. Carriers today are under pressure to operate more efficiently, improve the customer experience and manage loss costs. However, more complex claims have historically been monitored manually with the potential for oversights and errors. In response, Aon and Athenium Analytics have created Claims Signal™, a web-based platform that assesses, analyzes and improves the quality of claims handling utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), natural language processing (NLP) and predictive analytics to continuously examine open claim files. This solution enables insurers to uncover any high-risk claim characteristics and provide real-time alerts to help mitigate those risks early in the claims cycle. John Wang, partner at Aon Inpoint, commented, “Insurers are always looking to achieve more insights from their claims data. But all too often, we see carriers sitting on a wealth of valuable information with...

Life insurers investing to catch up in digital; Property/Casualty insurers’ priorities remain the same Boston, MA (Oct. 6, 2020) – Insurer IT spending levels and priorities remain largely consistent with the past few years, despite the pandemic, according to the 13th annual Insurer IT Budgets and Projects report from research and advisory firm Novarica. The report also finds that while Life & Annuity insurers continue to prioritize digital rather than product innovation, Property & Casualty insurers’ priorities have largely returned to normal. “Despite the disruption and uncertainty of the present time, insurers’ key challenges and priorities remain essentially consistent with recent years,” said Matthew Josefowicz, president and CEO of Novarica. “Insurers should consider the potential value they can create by using technology to sell more, manage risk better, and cost less to operate in this dynamic environment, rather than treat technology as an expense to be managed to historical norms.” Among the key findings of the reports are: Life insurers are focused heavily on digital, less on new products. Many large and midsize insurers recognize their weak portal capabilities and are planning investment. Property/casualty insurers’ priorities have not been changed by the pandemic. They remain focused on speed to market, analytics, and...

By Steve Whitelaw, Vice President – Industry & Partner Relations, Applied Systems — As we think over the last few months, businesses in every industry have been facing new and unprecedented challenges. Independent brokerages have had to evaluate and launch new plans to get staff working from home, connect with insurer partners to access critical policy information and continue to serve customers in their preferred method as face-to-face has been limited. The response to many of the day-to-day work challenges presented by the pandemic has been to lean heavily on technology. Previously planned digital strategies have been fast tracked to timeframes that were unimaginable before the pandemic struck, and capabilities that were underutilized are more critical than ever before. In the Canadian market, there has been a strong move for the industry to explore accelerated paths to paperless. Brokers have understandable concerns for how it could affect their businesses, including: Protecting the broker-client relationship while providing their consumer service in the customers’ preferred method. Maintaining the broker advisory role under the brokerage brand. Providing adequate security. Similar to financial services, brokers are responsible for sensitive customer data. PIPEDA gives consumers a right to access their personal information held by organizations...

CAA’s MyPace™ pay-as-you-go auto insurance now available Thornhill, ON (Oct. 7, 2020) – CAA MyPace™, Canada’s only pay-as-you-go auto insurance payment program, is now officially available to consumers in Nova Scotia. First announced in Ontario in May 2018 by CAA Insurance Company, the program puts choice and control back in the hands of consumers. CAA MyPace will become available to drivers on in New Brunswick on December 1, 2020 and in PEI on February 15, 2021. “CAA MyPace has been generating a great deal of interest in the market, and we’re excited to offer this new program to the Maritime provinces,” said Matthew Turack, president, CAA Insurance Company. “Drivers now have access to an insurance option designed to meet the needs of their individual lifestyles and puts choice and control back in their hands.” The program is ideal for those who are driving less amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, or the Monday to Friday public transit commuter who leaves their car at home, retirees who like to visit family on weekends, or any motorists that drives under 9,000 kilometres. Consumers in Nova Scotia can now get a quote for CAA MyPace through their insurance broker, or by visiting www.caamypace.com, by calling...

Staff | October 7, 2020 Health and wellness platform Dialogue is acquiring employee assistance program provider Optima Global Health. The purchase is part of Dialogue’s growth strategy to tap into the increasing demands for health and wellness services for employers and employees during this turbulent time, according to a press release. “Tapping into Optima’s established expertise and leadership is critical to the success of our expansion into Canada’s promising EAP market,” said Cherif Habib, co-founder and chief executive officer of Dialogue, in the release. “This acquisition places Dialogue among the top EAP providers in the country and puts us in a position to introduce our innovative technology to millions of new users.” Read: Dialogue expanding services with new employee assistance program Optima Global Health was founded in 1993 and built up a network of more than 3,000 multi-disciplinary practitioners across the country and more than two million members. Meanwhile, Dialogue started in 2016 as a telemedicine platform and announced its mobile-first EAP in August. “Optima has always been at the forefront of integrated health and wellness services and we believe this acquisition is the ultimate way for us to elevate our innovation while continuing to offer the best service to our members,” said François Laflamme,...

When BMO Insurance entered the whole life market in 2017, it initially did so with a focus on providing long-term value and growth for policyholders. But more recently, it has cast a wider net through the introduction of a new whole life policy option. “Our new Wealth Accelerator option, which was launched earlier this year, allows us to have access to another market: clients who are looking for higher short-term cash values from their insurance policy,” said Daniel Walsh, vice president for Business Development at BMO Insurance. According to Walsh, the firm’s flagship Whole Life Estate Protector option was designed for personal or corporate clients who want an effective way to transfer assets to the next generation, and accordingly have a long-term view on their financial investments and assets. But as the COVID-19 pandemic has driven more people than ever to re-prioritize toward the short term, BMO found a way to address the emerging need. “An unexpected event can put financial stress on someone’s family or business partner,” he told Life and Health Professional. “That’s why many Canadians rely on life insurance to help protect their financial futures.” Aside from insurance needs, Walsh said BMO Insurance’s whole life policies are...

While the lockdown measures and distancing protocols put in place during the COVID-19 outbreak continues to fast-track insurers’ adoption of digital underwriting and marketing tools, that does not negate the crucial role that life insurance professionals play in the business. In fact, according to a new report, companies should invest in their talent more than ever. In a new paper titled The Future of Life Insurance, McKinsey highlighted the acceleration of many early-stage digital and omnichannel trends that has occurred this year. Since the onset of the pandemic, it said insurance companies have been pushed to adopt digital-hybrid solutions that integrate robo-advisors, video conferencing, and web chats. But rather than displacing frontline professionals, the report said insurers must embrace their role in “the integration of physical and digital channels,” particularly with respect to reaching customers. Customers can be directed to the channel or agent that best serves their needs, the report said, adding that agents should be armed with advanced analytics on their customer base along with centrally provided digital leads. “[A] recent McKinsey survey found that ‘generating leads’ and ‘building initial client relationships remotely’ were the two biggest challenges faced by agents,” the report said. “At the same time,...