Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

In the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada Protection Plan sprung into action. Amid rampant business lockdowns, surging coronavirus infections, and social-distancing measures, the company accelerated its push to offer full e-Policy and e-Applications for its products. Even then, it was clear to them that digital life insurance was graduating from a nice-to-have to an absolute necessity. At that point, the company had notched March sales figures reflecting double-digit percentage growth from both a month-on-month basis and an annual basis. Since then, the growth trend has continued, particularly among the millennial cohort. “I think the under-30 demographic, the millennials, are really enjoying the electronic process,” said Michael Aziz, co-president at Canada Protection Plan. “I think that’s enticing them. And now they’re realizing that the cost is very reasonable, especially at their age, and the process is much easier than they thought.” Among clients under 30 years of age, Canada Protection Plan found that the number of life insurance policies issued between mid-March until June 2020 showed a near-20% jump compared to the same period last year. Looking at the more immediate past, those sales figures showed a 14.13% increase compared to January to mid-March of this year. “As a...

Sun Life’s Group Retirement Services (GRS) has launched a proprietary ESG evaluation framework, which encompasses its core investment platform of 23 investment managers and over 140 investment options. “This new evaluation framework is an expansion of the strong governance process we have in place today for our investment platform,” Tom Reid, senior vice-president for Group Retirement Services, Sun Life Canada, said in a statement. With the new framework, Sun Life said it’s giving its GRS plan sponsors and members the opportunity to more easily make informed decisions with respect to sustainable investing. Sun Life said that among the variety of fund- and security-level ESG scoring systems offered by third-party providers, there is no single provider that overarches all GRS investment platform options. Giving ESG scores on a fund-by-fund basis, it said, can create confusion for clients. The ESG approach Sun Life has developed reportedly has two objectives: Identify ESG leaders (managers and funds) in every major asset category on its GRS core investment platform with the use of proprietary criteria; and Help plan sponsors easily understand the level of ESG integration for the various investment options offered in their retirement savings plans. The adoption of the evaluation framework also reflects...

Prudential Financial is pulling its UL Protector product from the market, effective July 13, and one industry analyst expects many more products to join it on the sidelines. The problem is that ultra-low interest rates make it difficult to support guaranteed universal life designs, explained Sheryl J. Moore, president and CEO of Moore Market Intelligence and Wink. “The reserve requirements for these products are steep, and when interest rates are dim, it can tough to maintain profitability,” she said. “This is just the first domino to fall in the insurance Rube Goldberg machine. Others will suspend products if the current rate environment continues.” Prudential also plans to reintroduce its Term30 product, effective July 20, said Jamie Lorenz, manager of global communications for the insurer. Prudential had suspended applications for its 30-year term life insurance policy on April 13. The rest of Prudential’s statement reads: Advertisement Prudential remains focused on helping customers with their life insurance needs in this challenging time. We actively manage our product strategy and portfolio to address impacts of the sustained low interest rate environment and ongoing market volatility. … Offering a broad, diversified suite of life insurance solutions is a priority, as we continue to work...

PR Newswire Foresters Financial™ (Foresters) today announces it is now one of very few industry players to offer standalone Children’s Whole Life Insurance, with the launch of BrightFuture, its first product designed specifically for those currently under the age of 181. Available from July 5, 2020, a single BrightFuture application can be used to apply for coverage for up to six children. By purchasing BrightFuture, the owner, whether it be a parent, grandparent, or other legal guardian, protects an insured child’s future insurability at a low cost and provides the child with an opportunity to join a purpose-driven organization that gives its members the chance to make a difference in their community. The owner can transfer the ownership to the child at any age and time of their choosing2. The premiums, death benefit amount, and cash value are guaranteed for the child’s lifetime and the built-in Guaranteed Insurability Rider permits the insured to purchase additional life insurance coverage at specific ages or for future life events (such as marriage) without any further underwriting at the time. Up to three supplementary riders are also included at no added premium – an Accelerated Death Benefit Rider (Terminal Illness), a Common Carrier Accidental...

Toronto, ON (July 6, 2020) – Over the last several months, CSIO has seen a significant increase in insurance providers adopting My Proof of Insurance as their preferred solution to go paperless and send policy documents to end consumers. While the solution has already been successful as a way to electronically send and store eSlips (digital proof of auto insurance cards), the recent shift towards documents reflects the current safety and paperless climate of the pandemic. With the government deeming insurance an essential industry, insurance companies are still required to send consumers their important insurance policy information in a timely manner. Since paper mail and in-person meetings are no longer the norm, My Proof of Insurance has become an attractive solution to fill that gap for organizations who may not have a process in place for electronic distribution. By using My Proof of Insurance, companies can seamlessly email personal and commercial lines documents to the customer directly from their policy management systems. Attachments can include policy renewals, declaration pages, and billing statements. One of the benefits of My Proof of Insurance is that the implementation of the solution is easy and straightforward, meaning those companies who were facing COVID-19 social...

Majority of organizations have no specific plans for common and emerging attacks Cambridge, MA (June 30, 2020) – IBM Security has announced the results of a global report examining businesses’ effectiveness in preparing for and responding to cyberattacks. While organizations surveyed have slowly improved in their ability to plan for, detect and respond to cyberattacks over the past five years, their ability to contain an attack has declined by 13% during this same period. The global survey conducted by Ponemon Institute and sponsored by IBM Security found that respondents’ security response efforts were hindered by the use of too many security tools, as well as a lack of specific playbooks for common attack types. While security response planning is slowly improving, the vast majority of organizations surveyed (74%) are still reporting that their plans are either ad-hoc, applied inconsistently, or that they have no plans at all. This lack of planning can impact the cost of security incidents, as companies that have incident response teams and extensively test their incident response plans spend an average of $1.2 million less on data breaches than those who have both of these cost-saving factors in place.[1] The key findings of those surveyed from...

Staff | July 6, 2020 Even as Canada begins to reopen from coronavirus lockdown, uncertainty remains high and Canadians need employer mental-health supports more than ever. According to Morneau Shepell Ltd.’s latest mental-health index, Canadians’ mental-health score sat at negative 11 in June. The index measures the score based on a pre-2020 benchmark of 75. While June’s score was one point higher than May’s, it still represents the third monthly consecutive negative score. Looking to specific mental-health issues, scores on anxiety (-12.9), depression (-12.7), work productivity (-12.1), optimism (-12.0) and isolation (-11.6) remained low but improved slightly across the board compared to the previous month. Read: Employees still in work with reduced salaries highest on mental-health index “As the country enters new phases of reopening and restrictions begin to ease, it’s important to remain focused on the mental health of Canadians and recognize that mental well-being requires the same attention and action as physical health,” said Stephen Liptrap, Morneau Shepell’s president and chief executive officer, in a press release. “The long-term impact of continued low levels of mental health is not only a concern for individuals but also for organizations and governments due to higher health and disability costs and the negative impact on individuals’ participation in...

Staff  | July 6, 2020 The British Columbia Investment Management Corp., the AustralianSuper and two Dutch pension funds — APG and PGGM — are jointly establishing a responsible investing platform. The sustainable development investments asset owner platform, which will be available through distribution partner Qontigo, features standard and artificial intelligence-driven data that enables investors to assess companies on their contribution to the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. The platform provides a common definition, taxonomy and data source for investments into the UN’s sustainable development goals. To date, it generates sustainable development investments classifications for 8,000 companies, enabling investors to assess their global capital markets’ portfolios on their contribution to the UN’s goals and to report to their clients and external stakeholders transparently and consistently, using a common standard, according to a press release. Read: How companies are stacking up on U.N.’s sustainable development goals The participating pension funds have set ambitious targets for investing in the UN’s sustainable development goals, with both the AustralianSuper and the BCI joining the platform. “Standardization of data is one of the biggest challenges facing the environmental, social and governance landscape,” said Jennifer Coulson, vice-president of ESG at the BCI, in a press release. “For this reason, we are excited to be part of...

Unique model continues to resonate highly among the nation’s entrepreneurial P&C brokers Toronto, ON (July 6, 2020) – Navacord Corp., one of Canada’s top commercial insurance brokerages and a leader in risk management services, is pleased to announce a series of partnerships with four prominent P&C brokers across Canada, solidifying Navacord’s position as the country’s fourth largest commercial broker. In time for Canada Day, Navacord officially closes its deal with Blanket Insurance in Edmonton, AB, and welcomes Smiths’ Insurance in Regina, SK; The Hull Group in Toronto, ON; and Cooke Insurance, one of the largest independent brokerages in the Maritimes. With existing Broker Partners that span central and western Canada, these latest additions are another step in supporting Navacord’s vision of building the great Canadian brokerage. “Navacord’s entrepreneurial partnership model continues to resonate with high-performing brokers in both the P&C and benefits sectors across Canada,” says T. Marshall Sadd, Executive Chairman of Navacord. “In addition to helping us scale into new geographical territory, each of these Broker Partners allows Navacord to expand upon our existing expertise, while deepening the depth of our product offerings and lines of business.” As leaders in their respective communities, each of the new brokers has...

Toronto, ON (June 30, 2020) – Catastrophe Indices & Quantification Inc. (CatIQ), a subsidiary of Zurich-based PERILS AG, has released the annual update of its Canadian insurance Industry Exposure Database (IED), developed with the support of the Canadian P&C industry. The IED now contains 2019 year-end estimates of Canadian industry property sums insured. As in previous years, the database makes available industry property sums insured, number of risks and prevailing original insurance conditions by: Canada Post Forward Sortation Area (FSA) Peril (windstorm, hail, fire, flood, sewer back-up, earthquake and volcanic eruption) Line of business (personal, commercial, and motor hull) Cover type (building, vehicle, contents, business interruption and additional living expense, where applicable) Launched in June 2018, CatIQ’s IED is based on detailed exposure submissions from a majority of the Canadian insurance market. Consistent with PERILS’ globally recognized methodology, CatIQ’s IED is updated annually from the ground-up. Also, with the support of the participating insurers, CatIQ produces industry loss estimates at the FSA level as follows: The same perils, lines of business and cover types as listed above Any catastrophe that results in an industry loss greater than C$300 million This detailed loss dataset is now comprised of three major events,...