Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Staff | April 14, 2020 Private drug plans saw a slight uptick in costs in 2019 due to the increased use of specialty drugs and higher price points for traditional medications, according to Express Scripts Canada’s annual drug trends report. The report found private drug plan spending per claimant increased one per cent over 2018’s figures. Plans’ annual spend per claimant on specialty drugs — representing just two per cent of claims — increased by 2.8 per cent and spend on traditional medicines per claimant increased 0.1 per cent. “While the overall private drug trend is up one per cent, prescription drug benefits continue to be threatened by the growing use of very high-cost specialty drugs,” said the report. “Sustainability depends on benefits management solutions that translate into lower costs and improved health outcomes.” Read: Growing use of specialty drugs putting pressure on plan sponsors: report The increase in traditional drug spend reversed a 1.8 per cent decrease in 2018, which was due to a 7.2 per cent increase in spending on diabetes drugs and a 16 per cent increase in diabetes supplies and monitoring technology. However, Ontario’s short-lived OHIP+ program and the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance price negotiations helped to keep costs lower, noted the report. Looking forward, Express...

Yaelle Gang, the Canadian Investment Review | April 14, 2020 The Association of Canadian Pension Management and the Pension Investment Association of Canada have sent the federal government their wish lists for actions to help federally regulated pension plans deal with the fallout of the coronavirus, with a focus on measures to help with cash flow, liquidity and a call for broader solvency reform. As many companies are experiencing declines in operating cash flow, the PIAC’s letter recommended the government allows pension plan sponsors to opt out of making special payments for six to 12 months or until there’s more visibility on the economic recovery. Similar to the PIAC, the ACPM’s letter called for suspending special payment obligations for at least the next six months. “Given the current uncertainty, we recommend that special payments only recommence six months after an announcement that the moratorium will cease,” it said. Read: The impact of coronavirus on DB pension funding status, asset mix Over the medium term, the PIAC suggested the government be flexible and creative in how it allows plan sponsors to manage the probable large increases in their pension deficits. Its proposed options included indefinitely postponing changes put forward by the Office of the...

Rayaz Khan | April 14, 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic has created many complicated issues for employers. Prudent employers should ensure they’re aware of the resources that may be available during this uncertain time when information regarding government support is rapidly changing. Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy On March 30, the federal government announced the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, a program that will be in place for the period between March 15 and June 6, 2020. It’s intended to help employers keep workers on their payroll in light of the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, bring workers laid off for COVID-19-related reasons back to work and/or resume normal operations, if permissible. Read: Feds introduce 75% wage subsidy to help employers keep staff during coronavirus The wage subsidy program may bolster the ability to continue operating essential businesses despite decreases in revenue. For businesses that are unable to operate, or can only operate partially, the CEWS may offer the ability to provide support to employees. Employers are encouraged to seek legal advice when determining how to proceed and communicate with employees. The CEWS will be available to eligible employers that have faced a drop of at least 15 per cent in gross revenue for the month of...

Cambridge, ON (Apr. 13, 2020) – Gore Mutual Insurance Company has announced its Customer Care Package to provide much needed support for policyholders during this unprecedented time. “As a mutual company, our priority has always been the well-being of our customers,” said Gore Mutual Incoming President and CEO, Andy Taylor. “In fact, one of our core values is simply ‘Do It Right.’ The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge financial impact on Canada and people across the country are struggling. The Gore Mutual Customer Care Package will provide support for all of our customers no matter what product they have.” Below are some of the highlights from the Gore Mutual Customer Care Package. Personal Auto Customers: To provide premium relief to personal auto customers, Gore Mutual will be sending policyholders a one-time payment equivalent to 20% of three months premium. All in-force personal auto customers as of Thursday, April 9, 2020 will automatically receive the payment by cheque in the coming weeks. Personal Property Customers: Home Office With many people now unexpectedly working from home, Gore Mutual is providing personal liability and business property coverage up to $5,000 on all existing personal property policies. There will be no additional premium...

Quick-to-deploy turnkey solution for carriers to deliver a simple and personalized insurance experience online, ensuring consumers can get needed coverage Toronto, ON (Apr. 9, 2020) – Breathe Life, an InsurTech focused on bringing financial security to all, today announced the immediate availability of a digital insurance distribution kit that enables advisors to support both new and existing clients while working remotely. The Breathe Life digital insurance distribution kit can be deployed remotely to support advisors and their customers during these unprecedented times. Advisors used to selling life insurance face-to-face with paper-based applications need to quickly change gears to help new customers and current clients get the coverage they need now. That means going digital fast. The Breathe Life digital distribution kit provides carriers, distributors and their advisors a digital on-ramp that includes remote selling tools so advisors can continue to provide valuable advice while streamlining the buying process for consumers. With the kit, advisors can remotely support new or existing clients with chat, video or co-browsing to walk a client through an application all the way to secure digital policy delivery. With the Breathe Life digital distribution kit, advisors can: Remotely engage clients with a personalized experience; Input and manage...

New data standards will support emerging and future technologies across all geographies and lines of business Pearl River, NY (Apr. 8, 2020) – ACORD, the global standards-setting body for the insurance industry, today announced the release of Version 1.0 of its Next-Generation Digital Standards for insurance data exchange. Developed in partnership with leading industry organizations, the Standards enable omnichannel information exchange using fine-grained business transactions. The ACORD Next-Generation Digital Standards are designed to function across any technology interfaces to support data transfer mechanisms such as microservices and RESTful APIs. Applications of these messages include customer-facing mobile apps, the Internet of Things, distributed ledgers, and other cutting-edge technologies. “Change in the global insurance ecosystem is accelerating,” said ACORD CEO Bill Pieroni. “Embracing streamlined data exchange will allow insurance stakeholders to leverage new and emerging technologies to benefit themselves, trading partners, and insureds.” ACORD has facilitated the development of standardized forms, data messaging, and other assets since 1970 in partnership with its members, which include insurers, brokers, agents, solution providers, and other industry leaders worldwide. Half of global written insurance premiums leverage ACORD Standards. The ACORD Next-Generation Digital Standards were developed with contributions from ACORD members throughout the industry, including AIG, The...

Lloyd’s selects 12 new InsurTech disruptors, including Canadian BOXX Insurance, to join innovation accelerator Toronto, ON (Apr. 7, 2020) – Lloyd’s has selected twelve new InsurTech disruptors to join the global (re)insurance market’s innovation accelerator, as part of Lloyd’s commitment to becoming the most technologically advanced insurance marketplace in the world. More than 190 applications were received from across the world for the fourth cohort of the Lloyd’s Lab, which starts on 27 April 2020. The twelve successful teams were selected after presenting their ideas in a competitive process during a virtual pitch day on April 2. The start-ups will be focused on four key themes: data and models; new insurance products and markets; the future of transportation; and cyber. The Lloyd’s Lab is the home of InsurTech and is a leading hub for technology-led innovation, with more than 500 international InsurTechs applying to join the Lab in its first two years. Successful companies join the Lab for a ten-week programme, where they work with insurers in the Lloyd’s market to develop and test their ideas, using the expertise and experience of their mentors to add value to the Lloyd’s market. In the first three cohorts, start-ups, entrepreneurs and businesses...

New Aite Group research finds that digital transformation and the rise of ecosystems are newer elements for core system vendors to consider Boston, MA (Apr. 9, 2020) – Core system vendors in the United States are forced to deal with a shifting property and casualty insurance landscape while serving carrier clients that might be resistant to change. Striking the balance between keeping up with an evolving industry and ensuring that all of carriers’ present needs are met poses a conundrum for these vendors. Aite Group’s latest report, Assessing the Competitive Landscape for U.S. P&C Core Systems, examines how core system vendors must position themselves with carriers in order to win their business. “The competition for carriers’ business is (and always has been) pretty stiff, so each vendor attempts to position itself as more capable than other vendors so that carriers can draw clear distinctions,” explains Jay Sarzen, senior analyst at Aite Group. “The challenge for vendors is that they tend to focus on the same elements as other vendors when trying to create differentiation,” he adds. This report shows how core system vendors position themselves against their competitors and how that positioning matches up with what carriers expect from their...

Life insurance activity dipped in March. (Courtesy of MIB Index) The COVID-19 pandemic is being blamed for a -2.2% year-over-year decline in U.S. life insurance application activity for March, according to the MIB Life Index. The poor month interrupted a strong two-month growth trend. March’s MIB Life Index application activity was off -6.7% from that of February. February’s month-to-month activity suggests pandemic-related demand for life policies with application activity at its highest for a January-February period since 2015, MIB reported. For the Q1 March close, the MIB Life Index composite remained up 1.8% year-to-date, some -2.2% off from February’s 4% YTD close. The March MIB Life Index age groups showed modest activity: ages 0-44, up 0.3%; ages 45-59, down -4.2%; and ages 60+ were off -6.2%. The small positive percent change in ages 0-44 (54.2% of the Index) helped temper losses in the composite Index, MIB said. Year-to-date, ages 0-44 are up 3.4%, ages 45-59 are off -0.7% and ages 60+ are up 0.9%. Read the original article at insurancenewsnet.com

Swiss Re Institute’s latest sigma report Global economic losses from disaster events in 2019 were USD 146 billion; insured losses were USD 60 billion Once again, extreme weather events were the main loss drivers, and growing catastrophe severity will drive larger losses in the future Population growth, urbanisation and economic development have triggered a rise in losses from weather events Weather risks remain insurable, but insurers need to be wary of historical loss records while building risk models to account for socio-economic and climate trends Failure to take immediate tangible action to confront warming temperatures could lead to climate systems reaching irreversible tipping points Zurich, Switzerland (Apr. 8, 2020) – The latest sigma report, “Natural catastrophes in times of economic accumulation and climate change,” reveals that Swiss Re Institute expects global warming will lead to growing intensity and frequency of severe weather events, but also to more uncertainty in their assessment. Economic and insured losses resulting from such events will rise in the coming decades, and this presents a major threat to global resilience. Worldwide, economic losses from natural and man-made disasters in 2019 were USD 146 billion, lower than USD 176 billion in 2018 and the previous 10-year annual...