Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Staff | June 17, 2020 While Foodora announced in April that it’s shutting down its Canadian operations, its Toronto and Mississauga drivers, nevertheless, have voted to join the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, making them the first app-based workforce to unionize. “The truth is free — we are a union and we deserve respect and rights from our employer,” said Iván Ostos, a courier who’s worked towards the unionization, in a press release. “Many doubted that workers in this era wanted or needed a union. Through conversations, companionship and the dedication of hard-working foodsters, we came together to achieve something many said was impossible. I am so thankful for all the couriers that dedicated themselves to this campaign.” Read: Foodora couriers allowed to unionize, rules Ontario labour board The Ontario Labour Relations Board’s eventual unsealing and counting of the Foodora workers’ ballots came after the board ruled in February that couriers and drivers were dependent rather than independent contractors and could therefore unionize. “People said gig workers can’t be organized, but these workers just proved that you can,” said Jan Simpson, national president of the CUPW. “Just because Foodora left, doesn’t take away what these workers achieved. They have paved the way for all precarious workers to gain...

Staff | June 17, 2020 Workplaces represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union are among the latest employers to join the OPSEU Pension Trust’s defined benefit plan, OPTrust Select. “This isn’t just a victory for the new members of OPTrust Select, it’s a victory for nearly a million workers across Ontario who don’t yet have the security of a defined benefit pension plan, including 25,000 OPSEU members working in the broader public service,” said Warren Thomas, president of OPSEU, in a press release. Read: OPTrust launching new defined benefit pension plan “When OPSEU first proposed this idea more than a decade ago, it was because we believed then, as we do now, that all workers deserve to have access to a secure and dignified retirement and OPTrust Select is making that a reality.” An additional 50 organizations from across Ontario are in the process of applying to join the plan, which has welcomed 38 organizations and more than 1,000 new members since enrolment began in early 2019. “Nonprofit workers are essential to the well-being of our province, which means that their well-being is essential too,” said Peter Lindley, president of the OPTrust. “The need for security and predictability has never been greater and, by...

A Georgia federal court decision involving a viatical settlement of a term life policy is being appealed after a judge ruled the transfer an “unlawful wagering contract.” The lawsuit focuses on a 10-year, $500,000 term life policy issued in 1999 to Kelly Douglas Couch, who hid his HIV-positive status and died in June 2005. Later in 1999, Couch transferred ownership of his policy to Sterling Crum, an investor in such policies. The policy was issued by a predecessor to the Jackson National Life Insurance Company. Crum did not learn that Couch had died until December 2016, court documents say. Jackson sued Crum in October 2017. Crum countersued and Judge William M. Ray II sided with Jackson in March. But Crum appealed and the case continues. Viatical settlements can be traced to the 1980s and the AIDS outbreak. The deal starts with a chronically ill policy holder selling his or her life insurance policy, which was acquired when the policy holder was healthy, to a third party for a lump sum. The third party then becomes the new owner of the policy and is responsible for paying the policy’s premiums. The practice became popular and fraudulent practices developed. In his ruling,...

By John Bruno, Chief Operating Officer, Aon plc and Chief Executive Officer, Data & Analytic Services — In my last blog (“How InsurTech will save insurance from itself”), I talked about how the insurance and risk management industry must embrace innovation if it is to stay relevant to clients. The dislocation created by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is just one example of an under-insured risk. It’s not just the pandemic. Aon’s Global Risk Management Survey 2019 found that the majority of risks that businesses worry about are not currently insurable. This is happening at a time when overall insurance spend as a proportion of global GDP is stagnating but there is an opportunity for insurers to satisfy clients’ increasingly complex insurance needs with new and relevant products. It’s become clear that new technologies – and specifically, advances in digitalization – represent the obvious launch pad for innovative solutions that will help our clients better manage risk and close the protection gap. As a result, InsurTech has fast moved up alongside FinTech for investors and they are flocking to start-ups in increasing numbers. Between 2014 and 2018, U.S. InsurTech investment grew from $0.4bn to $2.5bn, an increase of 625%, according...

Unifying digital and analytics, with core, Aspen empowers business users to rapidly design and release new products in days First cloud-optimized release of InsuranceSuite empowers agility with visual product design, embedded analytics, and cloud-native services InsuranceSuite now unifies digital and analytics with core, setting new bar for core platforms New cloud-native services include rating, rules engine, and data pipeline With Advanced Product Designer and the automatic creation of digital screens insurers can now create and launch new products in days rather than months Cloud Data Access, a new Guidewire Data Platform service, provides insurers secure access to their InsuranceSuite data, saving time and enabling new insights New Guidewire Analytics products for personal cyber and employment practices liability Guidewire for Salesforce adds ClaimCenter integration for a unified view of the customer InsuranceNow adds embedded business intelligence dashboards and new APIs for consumer quote and buy capabilities San Mateo, CA (June 16, 2020) – Guidewire Software, Inc., the platform P&C insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently, is pleased to announced the launch of Aspen 2020.1H, featuring the first cloud-optimized release of Guidewire InsuranceSuite, and additional enhancements to Guidewire InsuranceNow[1], Guidewire Analytics, and Guidewire for Salesforce. Aspen extends support for insurers’...

In 2020, the world has changed; come together through the unexpected Get your copy of The New Demand for On-Demand: A Path Forward for Insurers New York, NY (June 17, 2020) – In the last few decades, the insurance industry has incrementally innovated on top of a paper-based, legacy foundation, moving away from investments focused on internal automation and processes toward investments in managing insurance customer relationships, and customer-centric product and services. In the 2010s, insurers began experimenting with new types of technology as a potential complement to – rather than as a replacement for – the traditional way of doing business. Slow processing of application, underwriting and claims coupled with inflexible annual policies were still the status quo. Today, the desire for customer-driven, on-demand services is taking off. After decades of low-level innovation, we are entering a time of tremendous, accelerated change. What does this new normal mean for insurers that need to stay competitive? In this white paper, Slice covers what insurers should consider to be competitive in a world that may have more impromptu quarantines and unexpected disruptions to business, entertainment, and travel. The insurance industry has adapted before in major ways, it is time we do...

Yaelle Gang, the Canadian Investment Review | June 17, 2020 The volatility caused by the coronavirus pandemic made the first quarter of 2020 rough for many Canadian defined benefit pension plans. In early June, the Local Authorities Pension Plan Corp., which is mandated to invest with the Alberta Investment Management Corp., said it began the year with $50.6 billion in assets under management and ended the first quarter with $47.2 billion. But, while an approximately 6.5 per cent reduction to the size of the fund is a hard hit, the results would have been much worse if it wasn’t for a downside protection strategy the LAPP that reversed about four per cent of losses and saved the fund almost $1.9 billion. The LAPP Corp. only became the legal trustee and administrator of the pension plan on March 1, 2019. Until then, the president of the Alberta Treasury Board and the province’s minister of finance was the plan’s legal trustee and administrator. Read: LAPP reporting $3.4-billion loss in first quarter of 2020 Following the change, the new sponsor board was given a two-year period to work on articulating its risk appetite and developing a new funding policy, says Chris Brown, the LAPP’s president and chief...

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, ownership of life insurance fell among households earning less than $100,000, declining by 25% over the past 10 years. This year’s Insurance Barometer Study by LIMRA and Life Happens reviewed 10 years of consumer data on life insurance and related financial issues based on a survey taken in January 2020. In January, 46% of adult consumers did not own life insurance. Although 36% of respondents said they intended to purchase life insurance in the next 12 months, many were without it during the height of COVID-19. Of those surveyed, 44% said they would feel a financial impact within six months if the primary wage earner were to pass away. More than a quarter (28%) would feel it within one month. Perception of cost may be the most significant barrier. Half of millennials believe the estimated yearly cost for a $250,000 level-term life insurance policy for a healthy 30-year-old is $1,000 or more when in actuality, it’s closer to $160 per year, LIMRA reported. “Over the last 10 years, a drop in ownership of life insurance and disability insurance could correlate to a broad decline in employer-paid group benefits, showing that consumers are relying on...

As the world continues to suffer from the financial and public health impacts of the novel coronavirus, several priorities have become top-of-mind for many Canadians. Aside from the obvious desire for liquidity, there’s an increased focus on portfolio risk mitigation, as well as protection in case of death or disability. Addressing such concerns, iA Financial Group has launched iA PAR, its all-new participating life insurance product that can address a range of retirement-planning and estate-planning needs. “We have always strived to offer solutions that meet the evolving needs of our clients,” said Renée Laflamme, executive vice-president, Individual Insurance, Savings and Retirement at iA Financial Group. “That’s why we are proud to now offer our new participating life insurance product and allow them to benefit from its advantages.” With liquidity from annual dividends, clients may use iA PAR to increase their retirement income or establish a solid foundation for their children’s or grandchildren’s future. Aside from that, they stand to benefit from tax-advantaged diversification to alternative assets. “One key aspect and differentiator of our long-term asset allocation is the 55% target allocation to alternatives investments,” said Thomas Drolet, portfolio manager, iA Investment Management. According to Drolet, iA PAR’s investment portfolio includes...

Green Shield Canada and HBM+, its health benefit managements solutions division, have announced the high-level results of a previously announced pharmacogenomics clinical trial study examining whether drug treatment can be improved using information about a person’s genetic profile. “We undertook this study because there were substantial gaps in knowledge regarding the downstream impact of pharmacogenomic testing on patients, but the results confirm that it can be a difference-maker for those suffering with major mental health conditions,” said David Willows, GSC’s EVP, Digital, Innovation and Brand Experience. The study was a single-blinded randomized controlled trial, which followed over 200 outpatients diagnosed with major mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. Each participant was randomly sorted into either a control group, where drug optimization was conducted purely based on a pharmacist’s clinical judgment, or an experimental group where a pharmacist administered pharmacogenetics-guided treatment. Validated psychiatric instruments – including the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) – were used to evaluate patient response. Over a six-month trial period, participants in the pharmacogenomics-guided cohort reported significantly greater improvements. Compared to the control group, they showed better recovery with respect to depression severity (36% improvement from...