Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Staff | July 23, 2020 Navacord Corp. is acquiring Ontario-based firms Selectpath Benefits and Financial Inc. and ProBenefits Consulting Inc., more than doubling its benefits revenue. With a strong presence in Ontario’s southwest, Selectpath specializes in benefits and pension solutions for the hospital and health-care sectors, as well as a wide range of industries including transportation, automotive dealerships, technology and manufacturing. “Selectpath deepens our leadership and expertise and expands on our multi-line approach with a broader scope of products and services,” said Shawn DeSantis, president and chief executive officer, in a press release. “The Selectpath team brings significant new capabilities in financial planning, human resources management, [human resources information services] and payroll — something not many other brokers can offer.” Read: Navacord acquires Edmonton-based benefits consulting firm ProBenefits, also based in Ontario, specializes in designing customized and sustainable benefits and pension plans using a proprietary audit and disciplined cost-containment strategy. The addition of ProBenefits also broadens Navacord’s benefits and pensions business in the Toronto area. “Navacord continues to attract strong, like-minded brokers who wish to partner with a national organization to scale or build out their service offerings while maintaining their unique brand, culture and autonomy,” said T. Marshall Sadd, executive chairman at Navacord, in the release. “We’re...

Several life insurers are reversing COVID-19 restrictions on underwriting, even as the pandemic continues to infect record numbers of Americans. On June 25, John Hancock resumed issuing policies up to and including age 90. The insurer paused issuance of policies for anyone between ages 80 and 90 for three months, a spokeswoman said. Earlier this month, Pacific Life reinstated underwriting for applicants (in a standard or better risk class) up to age 81. A spokesman declined comment on the decision. On April 7, Pacific Life temporarily limited underwriting to age 75 and below. The insurer was among many who restricted underwriting as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the United States. Those decisions were very difficult for insurers because the age 60+ group is a big potential customer pool for life insurance. And the tightened underwriting hurt overall policy counts. Advertisement According to MIB Group data, 60+ policy application activity was down 2.3% year over year at the conclusion of June. However, 60+ applications were up 3.4% in January and February saw a whopping 6.4% increase. Prudential is the only insurer known to have completely pulled a product, suspending all sales of its 30-year term offerings in mid-April. Those products returned...

Montreal, QC (July 21, 2020) – Apollo Insurance Solutions Ltd. (“Apollo”), Canada’s largest online insurance marketplace, has partnered with K&K Insurance Canada to add Special Event and Wedding insurance to the Apollo Exchange’s rapidly growing catalogue of digital insurance products. This Special Event coverage offers Commercial General Liability with $2M and $5M limits, with available liquor liability. Pricing starts at $125. Canadian insurance brokers are able to access all of the products on the Apollo Exchange by registering for free. “This is a  great example of exactly how Exchange technology can help a broker get these one-off Special Event policies off their desk quickly and efficiently, while serving their clients more effectively,” said Margo Lyons, Head of Broker Distribution at Apollo  “Credit to K&K in putting together this great insurance product.” As with every Apollo Exchange product, the entire process, from quoting, binding coverage, and issuing policy documents is immediate, online, and paper free. Some of the coverage features for this Special Event product include: Liquor liability coverage included if alcohol is served Clients can self-serve — brokers are able to send send a link to the application to their client for them to complete Meets requirements for most municipalities...

New Sun eApp fast tracks the life and critical illness insurance process so advisors can help Clients quickly and easily Toronto, ON (July 21, 2020) – At a time when Canadians are thinking about their health and financial security needs more than ever, Sun Life Canada is pleased to launch Sun eApp – an online, sustainable insurance application platform for third-party advisors and their Clients. As Canadians continue to navigate the pandemic, the Sun eApp makes it easier for Clients to get the solutions they need to close insurance coverage gaps and build long-term wealth. Financial security is a key pillar of Sun Life’s sustainability strategy and part of our focus on providing Clients with innovative products and services to help increase their lifetime financial security. Sun eApp helps Clients and their advisors through the process of applying for life and critical illness insurance digitally. The online platform supports advisors as they submit digital insurance applications, settle and manage in-force policies and speeds up the end-to-end process – helping a Client receive a decision on their application in as little as 24 hours. The Sun eApp is another example of how Sun Life Canada is enhancing its digital platform for...

Toronto, ON (July 22, 2020) – CSIO is pleased to announce that Applied Systems and Northbridge Insurance have jointly achieved Level II – Verified in CSIO’s Commercial Lines (CL) Certification Program. To accomplish this, each organization implemented the CL minimum data set and successfully demonstrated real-time quoting for specific contractors’ industry codes. Launched in May 2020, the CSIO Commercial Lines Certification Program was created to guide and support those insurer and service provider members who are committed to providing real-time quoting using CSIO XML Data Standards. There are three levels within the program, each representing a milestone in the adoption of CL data standards: Level I – Foundation, Level II – Verified, and Level III – Certified. “Since our acquisition of Policy Works, we have been actively working toward real-time quoting capabilities and attaining industry consensus on data requirements is bringing this vision to life,” says Steve Whitelaw, Vice President of Industry & Partner Relations at Applied Systems. “Achieving Level II Certification with Northbridge, one of the largest commercial lines insurers, has further strengthened our commitment to provide straight-through commercial lines quoting and processing capabilities directly from their daily broker management system (BMS) workflows.” “We’re excited to be the first insurer piloting...

Staff | July 23, 2020 When it comes to retirement benefits like the Canada Pension Plan and old-age security, the majority of Canadians don’t understand their options for deferral, according to a new survey by Employment and Social Development Canada. The survey, which polled 8,622 Canadians, found just 36 per cent are correctly aware of the deferral options for CPP and even fewer (17 per cent) understand them for OAS. Men are somewhat more (42 per cent) aware of the CPP deferral options than women (34 per cent), as well as for OAS (20 per cent versus 16 per cent, respectively). And older Canadians are more aware for CPP, with 58 per cent of respondents aged 60 to 64 being aware, compared to just 16 per cent of those aged 40 to 44. Read: CPP enhancements good start, but more needed to ensure retirement readiness: report Income also appeared to be correlated with this knowledge. More (59 per cent and 29 per cent) Canadians with an annual income of over $125,000 understood CPP and OAS deferrals respectively, while fewer (26 per cent and 12 per cent) of those with an annual income below $25,000 understood them. Education also appeared to be a factor. More respondents with an...

Staff | July 23, 2020 Several prominent players in Canada’s pensions and benefits industries have signed onto the BlackNorth Initiative, pledging to take specific actions within their organizations to tackle anti-Black racism. “The persistent inequities across our country underscore our urgent, national need to address and alleviate racial, ethnic and other tensions and to promote the elimination of anti-Black systemic racism wherever it exists,” read part of the pledge. “As leaders of some of Canada’s largest corporations, we manage hundreds of thousands of employees and play a critical role in ensuring that inclusion is core to our workplace culture and that our businesses are representative of the communities we serve. Moreover, we know that true diversity is good for the economy; it improves corporate performance, drives growth and enhances employee engagement.” Read: OPB outlines commitment to stand against anti-Black, anti-Indigenous racism The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, the Ontario Pension Board and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan were among more than 200 organizations that signed the pledge. “Until now, Blacks have been left behind by the diversity movement in Canada. Today, that changes,” said Wes Hall, founder and chairman of the Canadian Council of Business Leaders Against...

Insurers paid out $30+ billion due to natural catastrophes in the first six months of the year, according to Aon Catastrophe Report Chicago, IL (July 22, 2020) – Aon plc, a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions, is pleased to announce the launch of its Global Catastrophe Recap: First Half of 2020 report, which evaluates the impact of natural disaster events that occurred worldwide in the first six months of the year. Published by Impact Forecasting, Aon’s catastrophe model development team, the report reveals that global natural disaster events during 1H 2020 caused total economic losses estimated at USD75 billion – 25 percent lower than the 2000-2019 average of USD98 billion. Meanwhile, insured losses were estimated at USD30 billion – five percent higher than the 20-year average of USD28 billion. These totals are preliminary and will change as losses continue to develop. Natural disasters were responsible for approximately 2,200 fatalities during the first half of 2020, significantly below the long-term (1980-2019) average of 39,800 and the median of 7,700. Flooding was the deadliest natural peril during the period, having been responsible for 60 percent of the death toll. The total of...

Stand-alone rating engines can be paired with legacy policy systems to deliver rate flexibility, buying insurers time before modernizing their PAS; Novarica profiles five solutions in new report Boston, MA (July 21, 2020) – As competitive conditions in the insurance marketplace have insurers evaluating all aspects of their delivery life cycle, rating engines play a critical role in helping insurance companies deliver new products and enhancements to market. In Property/Casualty Rating Systems, research and advisory services firm Novarica provides an overview of the current solution provider marketplace for rating systems available to US property/casualty insurers, as well as profiles of five stand-alone vendor solutions. “Insurers can acquire rate development and deployment capabilities in two ways,” said Kevin Rall, Vice President of Research and Consulting, and co-author of Novarica’s new report. “Through a stand-alone rating engine or by using the native rating engine offered in most modern policy administration solutions. As digital capabilities proliferate, a well-architected, high-performing, and integrated rating engine will be the cornerstone of every customer experience.” Each profile summarizes the vendor organization, technology used, differentiators, client base, lines of business supported, deployment options, implementation approaches, upgrades/enhancements, and key functionality. Vendors profiled include: CGI, ClarionDoor, Decision Research Corporation, Duck...

Mentorship is the key in recruiting the next generation of Black advisors, and in helping them build their careers and eventually take over existing practices when the older generation of advisors is ready to retire. That was the word from the panelists who spoke during a recent online roundtable, “The Legacy And Future Of The Black Agent,” held by the National African-American Insurance Association. The panelists each had their own stories of how they came into the business and what they are doing to help others consider insurance and financial services as a career, and eventually own an agency. Too often, agency owners don’t give much thought to who will take over their practice until they are ready to retire, said Eileen Frank of JP West. “We have to plan for our legacy,” she said. Agency owners can’t count on their children to carry on the family business, said Amir Ali, an insurance consulting executive who calls himself “The Insurance Samurai.” Advertisement “I’ve seen it from both sides,” he said. “The kids either want to be like their parents or they want to be nothing like their parents.” The industry tends to attract those who are “rugged individualists,” said Kenneth...