Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Staff  | September 9, 2020 Canadians’ mental health continues to be affected by the impact of the coronavirus, including concerns about a second wave, ongoing economic uncertainties and the added concerns of students returning to school, according to Morneau Shepell Ltd.’s latest mental-health index. For the fifth consecutive month, it showed a negative mental-health score, at negative 11, a slight decline on July’s score of negative 10. The index, which also tracks sub-scores against the benchmark, measured the risk of anxiety (negative 12.9), depression (negative 12.7), optimism (negative 12.7), isolation (negative 12.1) and work productivity (negative 11.1). All sub-scores were worse compared to the improvements seen the previous month, excluding work productivity, which remained unchanged. Read: Canadians’ mental health remains low even as country reopens from coronavirus lockdown “The financial and economic impact of the pandemic can’t be ignored; however, there also needs to be more attention to the ongoing toll the pandemic is having on the mental well-being of Canadians,” said Stephen Liptrap, the organization’s president and chief executive officer, in a press release. “This decline is cause for concern. Canadians’ initial feelings of optimism as we started to reopen does not erase the impact of the pandemic. To avoid further declines,...

New SMA Blog by Mark Breading, Partner, Strategy Meets Action — The options for digital communications keep expanding. Insurers’ mobile interactions with prospects, producers, and policyholders have become common, while methods like e-mail, web portals, and even fax are extensively used. Now there is a whole new world of messaging platforms, chatbots, business texting, voice assistants, and more. All of these methods are in widespread use in the world today, but not necessarily in insurance. It raises questions – how do you determine which methods to employ, for which types of interactions, and for which constituents? These are important questions since many insurers have implemented various newer communication technologies only to find that the take-up was low. This was a painful discovery after significant effort and dollars were spent to develop and roll out the new digital communication option. There is no magic answer to this dilemma, but the key to success lies in taking an outside-in approach. Traditionally, it has been more common to design system capabilities from an inside-out approach – taking into consideration the organization, products, IT systems, and channels to reach out to external parties. These are critical factors to be sure. But the better approach...

Staff | September 9, 2020 Navacord Corp. is expanding its group benefits business by acquiring British Columbia-based independent benefits brokerage Dehoney Financial Group. Dehoney, which has been in business for 40 years, provides benefits and retirement consulting, administration and life insurance products for executives and employees, working with a mix of public and privately owned Canadian companies. Read: Navacord acquiring Ontario-based benefits firms The acquisition will expand Navacord’s benefits business coast to coast in Canada. “Dehoney Financial Group is a well-known, respected consulting firm on the West Coast and beyond, with a team that collectively brings over 150 years of experience in benefit and retirement consulting,” says Shawn DeSantis, Navacord’s president and chief executive officer, in a press release. “We are pleased to welcome DFG and look forward to working together as we continue our focus on this priority growth area.” Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com

Aon launches Virtual Reinsurance Renewal Season online event Chicago, IL (Sept. 8, 2020) – Aon plc, a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions, has released its 2020 Canadian Insurance Market Report, finding an acceleration of existing trends in the last year. This report is a representation of the depth of Aon’s thought leadership and market expertise, powered by industry-leading data and analytics, and Aon’s ability to drive success for clients. The first quarter of 2020 saw a continuation and acceleration of the risk and insurance market shift that took hold in 2019. According to the report, pricing is continuing to rise, capacity is being withdrawn in several key lines of business, terms are being tightened, and the underwriting process has become increasingly rigorous. The insurance market in general has changed significantly over the last two years, with insurers taking a far more disciplined approach to underwriting beyond merely looking at price adequacy. Across the board, insurers are reducing their limits where appropriate, exiting certain industry segments, and reducing coverage. “It is vital that clients, brokers and insurers alike properly evaluate risk exposures to confirm that coverage and limits remain sufficient. With...

PR Newswire Policygenius, the nation’s leading online insurance marketplace, announced today the launch of the Policygenius Life Insurance Price Index, which displays average monthly life insurance rates using current data from leading life insurance carriers. This free index launches in tandem with Life Insurance Awareness Month and new data will be published on a monthly basis going forward to illuminate pricing trends for consumers. “The Policygenius Life Insurance Price Index was designed to provide invaluable insights to industry analysts, as well as consumers shopping for life insurance,” Jennifer Fitzgerald, CEO and co-founder of Policygenius, said. “We’re thrilled to launch this index to help people have an even better understanding of life insurance and how different scenarios can impact rates.” The September index shows that life insurance prices have remained stable, despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. There are very minor fluctuations in monthly premiums reported for most core demographics — less than $1 over the past six months. Insurance rates can vary as the market fluctuates, as well as when a shopper’s personal profile changes. Life insurance prices are primarily based on life expectancy while also factoring in personal details about an individual, including age, medical history and hobbies....

The data is in and it was a good news, bad news second quarter for life insurance policy sales — and COVID-19 impacts were felt all over. Total individual life insurance new policy sales increased 2% in the quarter, but new annualized premium fell 5%, compared with second-quarter 2019 results. Year-to-date, total policy count was up 1% and new annualized life insurance premium dropped 3%, according to LIMRA’s Second Quarter 2020 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Sales Survey. “COVID-19 definitely affected life insurance sales this quarter. Despite the decline in new premium, nearly half of companies reported growth in policy sales, citing increased consumer interest due to the pandemic and their ability to sell products without meeting face-to-face,” said Elaine Tumicki, corporate vice president, LIMRA Insurance Research. “In LIMRA surveys conducted this spring, U.S. carriers reported expanding automated underwriting and taking other measures to make it easier for consumers to apply for life insurance while adhering to social distancing guidelines. “As a result, direct-to-consumer sales propelled the growth in whole life policy sales but declines in other distribution channels muted the extent of this growth.” Advertisement While less than half of carriers sold more term policies than the second quarter of...

MassLive.com SPRINGFIELD — MassMutual’s decision to sell its retirement plan business will impact 2,000 employees, most of them working at MassMutual’s offices in Enfield, Connecticut, the company said. The Springfield-based insurance giant and Colorado-based Empower Retirement announced Tuesday that Empower has agreed to buy MassMutual’s retirement business for $3.35 billion. The move reflects industry trends of shrinking profit margins and efforts to consolidate and cut costs. Empower will acquire the MassMutual retirement business in a reinsurance transaction for a ceding commission of $2.35 billion. In addition, the balance sheet of the transferred business would be supported by $1 billion of required capital when combined with Empower’s existing U.S. business. “In Empower, we are pleased to have found a strong, long-term home for MassMutual’s retirement plan business, and believe this transaction will greatly benefit our policyowners and customers as we invest in our future growth and accelerate progress on our strategy,” Roger Crandall, MassMutual’s chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement. Advertisement “This includes strengthening our leading position in the U.S. protection and accumulation industry by expanding our wealth management and distribution capabilities; investing in our global asset management, insurance and institutional businesses; and delivering a seamless digital experience —...

Over the past few months, it’s been all hands on deck for many companies in the insurance industry as the COVID-19 outbreak cut off normal channels of applications, underwriting, and claims processing. And for the life insurance arm of one Big Six bank, recent activity numbers show how the pandemic hasn’t slowed things down. “It’s quite interesting,” said Daniel Walsh, vice president, Business Development at BMO Life Assurance. “If you look at our recent third-quarter results, which include May, June, and July, we’ve been able to put up similar numbers to what we saw during the same period last year, despite being in a pandemic.” According to Walsh, the number of life insurance policies put in place by the bank-owned insurer during those three months substantially overlapped with the number that was seen for the third quarter of 2019. The total premiums consumers have invested in their insurance products have also been fairly stable, inching up 1.5% compared to last year. The number of life insurance applications received has also risen, with a modest bump of 7% over 2019, reflecting a steady and possibly even improved demand for life insurance products. That increase may lend itself to a further increase...

Dynacare, an Ontario-based company that describes itself as Canada’s largest provider of medical insurance solutions, has announced a new biological sample collection method for testing to detect the virus that causes COVID-19. As an alternative to the commonly used nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) – which would have to be inserted into a patient’s nasal passage and therefore cause mild to moderate discomfort – Dynacare collaborated with various hospital partners to develop and assess a collection method that uses saliva from the test subject’s mouth. With the new collection method, the company said patients are able to collect samples by themselves, eliminating the need for close contact with a healthcare worker. Consequently, it eliminates the need for personal protective equipment (PPE) used by healthcare workers in performing traditional NPS collection, and lowers the risk of exposure faced by patients. “We’re extremely proud of the commitment, dedication and innovation demonstrated by the Dynacare team across Canada who have consistently demonstrated steadfast support of the healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic, most recently with the introduction of our saliva collection for PCR [polymerase chain reaction] testing method,” said Dynacare CEO Vito Ciciretto. An instructional resource on NPS collection put out by the New England...

The Ins and Outs of the Canadian Super Visa and Visitors to Canada Emergency Medical Insurance About the Canadian Super Visa What is a super visa?The super visa, introduced in December 2011, allows parents and grandparents of Canadian Citizens and Canadian Permanent Residents to enter Canada for up to two years at a time (without having to renew their status). The super visa is a multiple entry visa and is valid for up to 10 years. Since the introduction of this new initiative, it has gained great momentum with over 17,000 applications processed each year. How does the parent and grandparent super visa differ from a visitor visa?With a regular visitor visa, the visitor must apply for a visa each time they plan to travel to Canada. In most circumstances, the visitor visa is valid for up to six months. For trips longer than 6 months, the visitor must apply (and pay) for a visa extension. Even travellers from visa-exempt countries are limited to visiting Canada for only six months before they are required to apply to extend their stay as a visitor in Canada. A super visa saves visitors time and money that would otherwise be spent on applying...