Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Belleville-based McDougall Insurance Brokers announces another merger Toronto, ON (July 1, 2019) – McDougall Insurance and Financial announced today that they have merged with Ritchie Insurance effective immediately (July 1, 2020) and are pleased to welcome the employees of Ritchie Insurance into the McDougall organization. Ritchie Insurance is a very successful broker operating out of Parry Sound with 8 employees. They now join with McDougall Insurance and Financial to form an independent broker with 38 offices in Eastern Ontario, the Ottawa Valley and Central Ontario with 420 employees with over $415 million in property casualty premium and a strong and rapidly growing financial services division. All Ritchie Insurance employees will remain with the organization and their branch office location will continue. All members of the Ritchie Insurance management team including the current President Dave Ritchie will continue with the organization after this merger. Ritchie Insurance is an excellent fit with the McDougall organization which is split with both commercial and personal lines as well as financial services. The merger will greatly enhance our reach in Central Ontario as it adds a new location to our existing offices in this region. As an independent broker we are committed to continuing our...

Staff | July 2, 2020 The Public Sector Pension Investment Board is establishing a long-term strategic partnership with property and infrastructure firm Lendlease Corp. to develop an urban regeneration project in Milan. The Milano Santa Giulia mixed-use project has the long-term potential for up to 2,500 homes, alongside commercial office, retail and entertainment properties. It has also set a zero-carbon target and will include parkland. Overall, the site has a gross development value of  €2.5 billion. The partnership will involve an initial investment of about €250 million to buy two office buildings at the southern tip of the site, with the intention to later carry out development over the northern part of the site, building residential, office and retail components. Lendlease will lead the planning, design and development of the project over the coming decade. Read: CPPIB investing in U.K. residential real estate “We believe Milano Santa Giulia presents an exciting opportunity to create a vibrant new neighbourhood for Milan, built around the principles of innovation and sustainability, and we look forward to working with our new partners Lendlease on this project,” said Stephane Jalbert, managing director of real estate investments for Europe and Asia Pacific at PSP Investments, in a press release. In other investment news, the Canada Pension Plan...

Hub’s latest acquisition is the life insurance product Managing General Agent business of Ontario-based ivari Chicago, IL (July 2, 2020) – Hub International Limited (Hub), a leading global insurance brokerage, is pleased to today that it has acquired the life insurance product managing general agent business of ivari. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, ivari has a national network of thousands of independent advisors that provide a full range of life insurance products designed to help Canadians make the right choice for their protection needs. The brokers and business done through ivari’s company offices will join Hub Financial Inc., a subsidiary of Hub (Hub Financial). ivari’s strategic refinement of resources will allow ivari to further support independent advisors and existing partnerships, a move that will strengthen their position in the marketplace as a mid-market insurance provider and offer growth opportunities in the future. Hub Financial combines extensive sales training and coaching with industry-leading back office support and exceptional technology to provide financial advisors and insurance brokers with access to development tools and education while maintaining their independence and self-governance. With offices in 15 cities across Canada, Hub Financial is one of Canada’s largest distributors...

Forming a seamless digital connection between growers and insurance professionals, this partnership establishes new levels of protection from the financial impact of hail Winnipeg, MB (June 23, 2020) — Farmers Edge™, a global leader in digital agriculture, is pleased to announce a new partnership with Palliser Insurance, the leading provider of hail insurance in Western Canada. This strategic alliance enables Palliser Insurance to simplify hail claims and provide superior coverage to growers using the industry’s most comprehensive risk management platform—FarmCommand®. This collaboration combines the strengths of two Canadian agricultural powerhouses and addresses one of the most fundamental risk factors in farming—weather—to better protect policyholders from the financial impact of hail. Under the terms of the deal, Palliser Insurance will gain access to Farmers Edge InsurTech tools and new hail detection and reporting technology, increasing the accuracy of claims management and lowering administration costs through automated detection, estimation, adjudication, and reporting. Additionally, Palliser Insurance growers can leverage access to a powerful crop monitoring solution from Farmers Edge to support in-season decision making, ensure timely identification of crop damage, and simplify management of all critical claim data. The solution makes it easy for growers to seamlessly form a digital connection with their...

Evaluating sources must become a core competency; new CIO Checklist provides structured approach to determine external data quality and reliability Boston, MA (June 30, 2020) – With dozens of third-party data providers that market to insurers, the ability to screen out poor data candidates with up-front criteria will quickly provide the insurer CIO a shortlist of suitable vendors. In Vetting Third-Party Data Providers, research and advisory firm Novarica provides a checklist for CIOs that focuses on efficiency, speed to market, and minimizing the impact on scarce and expensive human resources. “Selecting a data partner is a significant investment of the insurer’s analytics, technology, business, legal, and procurement resources,” says Eric Weisburg, Vice President of Research and Consulting and author of Novarica’s new report. “Too much is riding on third-party data decisions for insurers to take an ad hoc approach.” Click here for the table of contents or to access the report. Report Summary This CIO Checklist proposes a structured approach for insurers to be more efficient in third-party dataset evaluation. Third-party data (3PD) is growing in popularity among insurers. It can provide critical support to the digital and analytical initiatives that insurers are prioritizing across the value chain. The 3PD...

Root technology is creating unparalleled value to GasBuddy consumers within the GasBuddy app in a first-of-its-kind partnership Toronto, ON (June 29, 2020) – GasBuddy, the travel and navigation app that is used by more North American drivers to save money on gas, will add advanced new functionality to its app by partnering with Root, Inc. and their technology platform business, Root Enterprise, to better understand driver behavior. Under the terms of the partnership, the companies will develop strategic uses of Root’s core telematics technology, which measures driving behavior through mobile phones. GasBuddy will now be able to provide its millions of users with individualized driving insights — for those who opt in — that can power cost savings at the fuel pump, and on their auto insurance policies, all within the GasBuddy app. “The GasBuddy brand stands for having the most ways and the most places for drivers to save on their fuel costs,” said Sarah McCrary, GasBuddy CEO. “Root’s innovations enable us to build on that promise, and even extend it by helping consumers save on their auto insurance. Our users will be delighted by Root’s elegant and useful interface, and even more so by the additional hundreds of...

Toronto, ON (June 29, 2020) – The Ontario government has announced the creation of a new task force to improve provincial oversight of the towing industry. The task force will help develop a regulatory model to increase safety and enforcement, clarify protections for consumers and improve towing industry standards. It will also consider tougher penalties for offenders. “IBC applauds the Ontario government for taking action against criminal activity and violence in the towing industry,” said Kim Donaldson, Vice-President, Ontario, IBC. “Insurance fraud is a safety issue for consumers. Lives can be put at risk as a result of these criminal actions. Insurance fraud costs Canadians in higher insurance premiums, and strains our already burdened health care services, emergency services and court systems,” added Donaldson. The task force will review a number of topics related to the towing industry, which could include provincial oversight of safety, consumer protection, improved industry standards, training and background checks. As part of the review, the task force may consider opportunities for increased protections for consumers against the first-to-scene unethical business practices that lead to accident chasing, insurance savings through a crackdown on insurance fraud rings, and improved consumer choice for payments and repairs. The province...

Martha Porado | July 2, 2020 Organizations all over the world are pledging their commitments to anti-Black racism as global protests over the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many others, move into their fifth week. While the outcomes of these numerous pledges remain to be seen, discussions on the topics of race and racism are being held in boardrooms and living rooms alike, adding to the chorus of voices chanting in the streets. For employers looking at more formally addressing issues of racism in the workplace, the first step is to listen, says Paula Allen, senior vice-president of research, analytics and innovation at Morneau Shepell Ltd. “It’s not just about moving forward. We can’t really move forward unless we understand what the current state is.” Read: OPB outlines commitment to stand against anti-Black, anti-Indigenous racism To many, the ongoing protests appear to be a tipping point, but she says it’s integral for organizations to remember the events that sparked them don’t represent a sudden change in the life of racialized communities, but rather the continuation of a longstanding pattern. “[The first week of protests] and the week prior is not different in the life of a Black person or the month prior or the year prior. So the...

Staff | July 2, 2020 More than three-quarters (79 per cent) of plan sponsors said they’re interested in their benefits providers sending targeted communications to plan members, according to the 2020 Sanofi Canada health-care survey. That’s up slightly from the amount who said the same in 2019 (74 per cent) and 2018 (64 per cent). However, slightly fewer (62 per cent) plan members said they’d consent to receive health-related information based on their personal use of benefits from the insurance company that manages their workplace benefits plan. In comparison, 65 per cent and 66 per cent said so in 2019 and 2018, respectively. But this number increases to 74 per cent among plan members who said they’re confident their personal information will be kept confidential. Read: Behavioural change a key component to managing chronic disease “Our role as insurers is evolving in terms of how we support the way plan members use their benefits,” said Julie Gaudry, senior director of group insurance at RBC Insurance and a member of the Sanofi Canada advisory board. “It could be through targeted communications or providing access to additional services to support their well-being. But we also need to evolve how plan members view us, so that they come to accept and...

By Martino Scheepens, Customer Success Manager, FRISS — The pandemic impacted the insurance industry in both predictable and unexpected ways. From the moment news of COVID-19 started spreading, insurance carriers knew there would be a significant business impact. Exactly what the impact would be was not immediately clear, and still leaves some room for guessing. Several months in, we can start to see how the pandemic has affected the industry and our customers. What’s happening? As FRISS supports carriers through all phases of the insurance lifecycle – from underwriting to claims and through the investigation process – we have deep insights into what’s happening across the globe. First, claims saw a sharp decline as the Coronavirus started hitting worldwide. For the most part, this came as no surprise. With fewer cars on the road, fewer accidents result in damage claims. There are fewer ways for people to hurt themselves if they never leave their homes. Workers’ comp claims decline when the workplace is nearly empty. This was an anticipated and completely logical result. As the world started to come alive after 3 months and “life as normal” began to resume, claims volume started trending back toward normal. This regional trend...