Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Martha Porado | October 2, 2020 At IBM Canada Ltd, if an employee joins a meeting, but doesn’t turn on their camera, the solution is simple: don’t worry about it. This is one attitude the company has formalized during the coronavirus pandemic to safeguard the mental well-being of its staff, says Katherine Faichnie, the technology company’s director of human resources. From a technology perspective, the organization had a fairly easy time transitioning to a work-from-home model, she adds. However, just because employees had the right tools, it didn’t mean every employee could simply continue with business as usual. “It wasn’t as easy as just telling people to work from home.” Read: Hyundai Canada addresses coronavirus with mental-health, connectivity initiatives Early on, IBM Canada was aware of the many reasons employees might have trouble settling into a work routine at home. Managers were given the discretion to allow workers up to 10 paid days off outside of normal vacation time, taken in either full or half days, to give them time to complete tasks that would settle them better into a routine. The company’s senior executives followed this with a pledge to set the tone for the pandemic, says Faichnie. “The purpose of this pledge was really to embrace a mindset across the company...

Empire Life has expanded its second telemedicine offering by announcing an addition to its benefit plans for globally mobile employees. The firm has added telemedicine services to its Voyageur Global Benefits suite of expatriate benefit plans administered by MetLife. With the new service, expatriate workers are empowered to speak with a doctor about minor medical conditions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, using their mobile device. “Nearly two-in-five Canadians say they have faced COVID-related barriers to medical care and I’m sure the situation is similar for globally mobile employees,” said Vanessa Lycos, vice-president, Group Product and Marketing, in a statement. “With telemedicine, talking to a doctor is simple, fast and easy—any time of the day or night.” The new telemedicine service, delivered by AXA via the Doctor Please! App, offers access to a team of licensed doctors who are able to provide care worldwide. Nancy Brown, Voyageur Global Benefits Sales Director for MetLife, said just half of globally mobile employees in MetLife’s most recent Employee Benefits Trends study said they felt their employers offer benefits specifically tailored to their needs. “Our telemedicine service will provide peace of mind when it is needed most,” Brown said. “This new service...

A newly created industry organization said it wants to create a state-by-state approach to reach more members and strengthen its advocacy efforts. And New York appears to be the first state in that effort. The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors’ New York State chapter board made an unprecedented move to secede from NAIFA and affiliate with a newly created industry association, Finseca. Finseca is the name of the organization formed from the merger of the Association for Advanced Life Underwriting and GAMA International. Finseca’s goal is to unify all of financial services in one coordinated effort around education, advocacy and elevation. The NAIFA-New York State move was unprecedented, NAIFA CEO Kevin Mayeux said in a statement. “Never in our 130 years has a group within a chapter board decided to secede from NAIFA and go against the NAIFA way of working together to represent the best interests of members in that state chapter,” he said. Advertisement In a news release, NAIFA said the chapter’s decision to affiliate with Finseca was made “by a handful of former NAIFA-NYS board members and their outside association management firm without consulting NAIFA’s national leadership or the members of the NAIFA-NYS chapter. Several...

Staff | October 1, 2020 Canadian institutional investors representing more than $2.3 trillion in assets under management have signed a new statement on diversity and inclusion. The list of signatories on the joint statement, which was coordinated by the Responsible Investment Association, includes the Alberta Investment Management Corp., Bâtirente, the British Columbia Investment Management Corp., the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Canada Post Corp. pension plan, the OPSEU Pension Trust and the University of Toronto Asset Management Corp. Read: Canadian pensions, consultants, institutional investors sign pledge to tackle anti-Black racism “Accelerating progress on diversity and inclusion within our organizations and investment portfolios requires a purposeful and collective effort on behalf of many investors,” said Kevin Uebelein, the chief executive officer of the Alberta Investment Management Corp., in a press release. “Together, we can build a more inclusive business and investment landscape in Canada.” The signatories will take steps to integrate diversity and inclusion into their investment processes, including monitoring the diversity and inclusion practices of Canadian public companies and conveying their expectations of improved disclosures on the topic. Further, the signatories said they expect public companies to aim to adopt policies, targets and timelines to improve board and senior...

Staff  | October 1, 2020 Online sleep clinic Haleo and employee assistance program provider Optima Global Health are forming a partnership to make solutions for insomnia and other sleep disorders accessible to millions of Canadian employees. Through the partnership, Haleo’s personalized insomnia treatment will be integrated into all of the basic issues covered in Optima’s EAP framework. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, many physicians and researchers have noticed a significant increase in the frequency and severity of sleep disorders, directly related to the current exceptional circumstances, according to a press release. It noted the effective treatment for insomnia should be a key component of the strategy to mitigate a second crisis, linked to mental health. Read: Sleep a serious issue with major productivity costs for employers “Over the past few months, we have collectively faced anxiety-provoking and stressful situations that have had a direct impact on the quality of sleep for many Canadians,” said Bradley Smith, president and chief executive officer of Haleo, in the release. “We are very pleased to make a concrete contribution to preserving and improving the health of Canadians through sleep [which is] an important component of a healthy lifestyle that is too often neglected when it should be considered as a public...

Over the past decade, life insurers have struggled with growth and profitability. By focusing on three priorities, insurers can reinvent themselves and reestablish their vital role in customers’ lives. By Pierre-Ignace Bernard, Kweilin Ellingrud, Jonathan Godsall, Bernhard Kotanko, and Andrew Reich → Read the whole McKinsey report Chicago, IL (Sept. 29, 2020) – The global life insurance industry has seen significant changes over the past decade. Developing economies—predominantly emerging markets in Asia that were formerly small contributors—have become global growth drivers and now account for more than half of global premium growth and 84 percent of individual annuities growth. The availability of data has skyrocketed, and insurers have made progress in advanced analytics and artificial intelligence. Digital and mobile advances have raised the bar on transparency and service quality: customers can now file claims and access agents, insurance quotes, and policy information with a few taps on a screen. The past decade has also introduced new challenges. Life insurers have not benefitted from the bull market. Global penetration fell to 3 percent, and premium growth within most developed markets, hovering just below 2 percent per year, struggled to match GDP. Globally depressed interest rates curtailed investment portfolio returns. More recently,...

Carriers must perform well in the areas most important to agents—the primary distribution channel for small-business insurance Boston, MA (Oct. 1, 2020) – The small commercial insurance market segment is going to be under greater pressure in the near future as some small businesses close and those that remain open operate under more constrained circumstances. As small-business owners try to navigate these challenging times, it is likely that agents can be a strong partner in helping them secure the best coverage at the best price. Should carriers pay more attention to what agents are saying about their performance? This Aite Group report showcases the findings from a survey of 56 independent and captive small commercial insurance agents in the United States that Aite Group conducted with the assistance of Competiscan, a Chicago-based firm that interacts heavily with agents to aggregate carrier marketing material, from March to May 2020. It endeavors to gauge agents’ opinions on how their carriers perform on various functions and how those opinions influence where agents place their business. This 78-page Impact Report contains 65 figures and 20 tables. Clients of Aite Group’s P&C Insurance service can download this report, the corresponding charts, and the Executive Impact...

Framingham, MA (Sept. 28, 2020) – The migration toward fully autonomous vehicles is being enabled by the gradual introduction of multiple, interrelated safety technologies. Feature by feature, these technologies add new capabilities that assist the safe and efficient operation of new vehicles and move the market toward an increasingly autonomous future. According to a new forecast from International Data Corporation (IDC), the number of vehicles capable of at least Level 1 autonomy will increase from 31.4 million units in 2019 to 54.2 million units in 2024, representing a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.5%. All light-duty vehicles shipped and retrofitted during the 2020–2024 forecast period will have a specific level of vehicle autonomy. To determine the autonomy level for each of these vehicles, IDC utilizes the industry definition established by the Society of Automotive Engineers’ (SAE) J3016 “Levels of Driving Automation” standard. These definitions can be summarized as: SAE Level 0 — no automation: All dynamic driving tasks are performed by the human driver. SAE Level 1 — driver assistance: Autonomous driving functions may situationally assist by providing either active steering or braking/acceleration for certain dynamic driving tasks. The driver remains responsible and in control of the vehicle...

New offerings include enhanced CSI surveys, repair status messaging and online reputation management for collision repairers San Diego, CA (Sept. 29, 2020) – Mitchell, a leading provider of technology, connectivity and information solutions to the Property & Casualty (P&C) claims and Collision Repair industries, today announced plans to enhance its AutocheX portfolio of consumer communication services through a joint collaboration with UpdatePromise. In addition to expanding its AutocheX consumer satisfaction index (CSI) service, Mitchell will introduce new digital solutions for repair status messaging to vehicle owners and online reputation management for collision repairers. The new products will be offered under the AutocheX brand and marketed as “AutocheX, powered by UpdatePromise”. AutocheX represents an iconic brand within the collision and automotive claims industry. With roots in the principles of the 3M ARMS programs of the 1990s, AutocheX was one of the first major consumer satisfaction indexing services. Over the past 30 years, millions of consumers have been surveyed on repair and claims satisfaction by AutocheX. UpdatePromise is a leading provider of communication solutions to automotive insurers, repairers and dealerships throughout North America. Since its founding in 2009, it has been a consistent innovator in leveraging the latest digital services for consumer...

Toronto, ON (Sept. 28, 2020) – BrokerTeam Group (BTG) is excited to announce that it will be setting up two new insurance brokerages in the last quarter of 2020. Located in Mississauga and Pickering respectively, BrokerZone Insurance and BrokerUnion Insurance will be the eleventh and twelfth brokerages to become a part of BrokerTeam Group’s expanding insurance broker network. BrokerTeam Group will support the two brokerages with insurer contracts and mentorship to enable a launch pad for business and premium growth. CEO of BTG, Royle Leung will serve as the principal broker until Vladimir Latinovic of BrokerZone Insurance and Muqit Aziz of BrokerUnion Insurance obtain their principal broker licenses and can take over the helm. “Currently, there are many hurdles for brokers to start their own brokerage through traditional means,” comments Royle Leung. “BrokerTeam Group makes it an achievable opportunity with our established relationships with insurers and pool of industry experience. Our ultimate goal is to open up doors for talent so they can develop into leaders within the industry.” Previously operating as a Desjardins Financial Security office, BrokerUnion Insurance will be converted into a RIBO-licensed brokerage, with its grand opening in September 2020. There has been an upward trend of...