Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

New offering provides additional mental health support Toronto, ON (May 27, 2020) – A recent Sun Life survey found that 56% of Canadians said the COVID-19 pandemic is having a negative impact on their mental health; this is supported by independent Teladoc Health research. Of particular concern, 60% of those affected said they are not seeking support.[1] To help Clients navigate their mental health issues, Sun Life is offering Mental Health Navigator from Teladoc Health. This complements the resources available through Lumino Health, an innovation from Sun Life. Mental Health Navigator is a confidential and personalized service that draws on a team of clinicians including psychologists and psychiatrists. The service aims to efficiently help determine the right diagnosis and treatment for individuals, while allowing people to receive care on their terms and manage their mental health as they need. Depending on a Client’s needs, they can connect virtually to conduct a thorough review of an existing mental health diagnosis, discuss symptoms or receive advice and treatment options. Through their acquisition of Best Doctors in 2017, Teladoc Health has expanded services to include Mental Health Navigator. Mental Health Navigator is now available to Sun Life Group Benefits plan members with access...

Deployment by IMS sister company Carrot Insurance demonstrates the effectiveness of digital self-service within connected insurance programs Waterloo, ON (May 26, 2020) – IMS (Insurance & Mobility Solutions), a subsidiary of Trak Global Group (TGG) and one of the world’s top three providers of connected car data solutions to insurers, mobility operators and governments, is pleased to announce a new partnership with SmarTek21®, an industry leader in accelerating digital evolution and transformation for companies. IMS chose to partner with SmarTek21 to integrate its SmartBotHub Conversational AI platform within Carrot, the UK direct-to-consumer digital insurance business owned by IMS parent company, TGG. In addition to adding self-service support to Carrot’s end-to-end digital customer experience, it also allows the chatbot technology to be tested live in market before IMS makes it available to insurers as a module within the Carrot UBI platform, launched earlier this year. To further streamline the digital customer experience offered to its UK customers, Carrot has been increasing the provision of alternatives to voice-driven communications over the course of 2019. With this implementation, SmartBotHub was layered over Carrot’s existing webchat platform to ensure that 100% of all chats could be initially handled by a bot. However, early results...

Additional investments in reporting tools, agent/customer access, and unstructured text ingestion used to differentiate in competitive marketplace: Novarica Boston, MA (May 21, 2020) – Specialty insurers are now differentiating themselves in a competitive marketplace through investments in distribution (especially new business submission), product development, underwriting, and claims. In a new report, Business and Technology Trends: Specialty Lines, research and advisory firm Novarica provides an overview of specialty carriers’ business and technology issues, data about the marketplace, and about 20 examples of recent technology investments by specialty carriers. “To accommodate a wide variety of risks, the specialty market requires a significant amount of operational flexibility to meet the needs of the insurer and the insured,” said Mitch Wein, Senior Vice President of Research and Consulting and co-author of Novarica’s new report. “Insurers must be able to test new specialty lines without large up-front capital investments and determine profitability, driving the need to invest in flexible technology.” Among the key findings of the report are: Insurers are pursuing long-term data strategies. Specialty insurers are prioritizing reporting tools and investing in data science capabilities to optimize their portfolios and improve underwriting. Ingestion of unstructured text is a newer area of focus leveraging AI,...

IBC Collaboration with Police Leads to Charges Toronto, ON (May 26, 2020) – Today, investigators with the York Regional Police Organized Crime and Intelligence Services laid charges related to organized-crime for violent property damage, fraud and drug trafficking, as part of an ongoing joint-forces investigation into the tow truck industry, known as Project Platinum. Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is proud to assist and support this ongoing investigation. “IBC applauds the efforts of all partners involved in this joint-forces investigation, Project Platinum, that resulted in criminal charges being laid,” said Bryan Gast, National Director, Investigative Services, 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 added insurance premiums, and strains our already burdened health care, emergency services and court systems.” This ongoing investigation has identified several organized crime groups working within the towing industry who have used violence and property damage to gain control and territory within the industry. A number of towing companies have been involved in defrauding insurance companies, using vehicles involved in collisions and staged collisions. These towing companies partnered with auto repair shops, physiotherapy clinics, as well as...

Calgary, AB (May 26, 2020) – Trufla is excited to announce the launch of their new Digital Summit series, the Amplify Sessions, on June 4-5, geared to help brokerages across the country with their digital presence from marketing to operations. “COVID-19 has forced us to change how we do business, has challenged us to think outside of the box, and has accelerated the shift from traditional to digital for many brokerages,” said Sherif Gemayel, CEO of Trufla Technology. “But what happens next? When the dust settles, how do we pick up the pieces to build an even brighter future? Trufla’s Amplify Sessions seeks to answer some of these unknowns by bringing together some of the top minds and talent in the industry, to try to solve some of the biggest issues we have in front us.” Gemayel will be giving a presentation on how to drive and manage leads to secure a successful future. The inaugural digital summit has an impressive line-up of speakers including Jeff Roy, President and CEO of Excalibur Insurance. Roy will be presenting on Humanizing the Digital Experience: Exploring how digital technology and innovation is not a free pass to growth. In this session, Roy will...

Kelsey Rolfe | May 27, 2020 Employers with registered supplemental unemployment benefit plans aren’t able to use them to top up laid-off employees who are receiving the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. In an online question and answer session on the CERB, the federal government confirmed that due to the “simplified design” of the benefit, the provisions existing under the employment insurance system that allow employers to top up workers’ EI benefits don’t apply to the CERB, which provides a flat $2,000 each month. Canadians who were laid off on or after March 15 and would have normally become eligible for EI were automatically moved over the CERB. “It has supplanted the EI system for the next several months,” says Stephanie Kalinowski, a partner at Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP. “So because of that, the top-up becomes a problem. Had employees who were laid off been receiving EI as they would have in normal circumstances, the employers could have created SUB plans and had them registered with Service Canada and been able to offer some additional assistance to their employees.” Read: Feds adding $2,000 benefit for Canadians out of work due to coronavirus She says her firm had several employer clients who registered SUB plans with Service Canada in mid-March as...

If there’s one silver lining to take away from the current coronavirus pandemic, it could be the fact that more people than ever are asking important questions about their health, mortality, and financial security. And as new data from PolicyMe shows, that’s translated into an increased interest in life insurance — but not necessarily an increased need. After polling members of the Angus Reid Forum, the insurtech platform found that Canadians are thinking more about life insurance. Nearly one quarter of respondents who didn’t have coverage prior to the pandemic reported either purchasing it, or considering purchasing it, since the COVID-19 crisis began. Among those who said they just recently started thinking about getting life insurance coverage, two thirds (67%) said they were driven by COVID-19-related concerns. The top considerations relating to the pandemic were: An increased awareness of threats to life (36%); Reevaluating their financial situation amid the current economic climate (29%); Experience or threat of losing employment and, by extension, employer-provided life insurance (12%); Risk of getting sick with COVID-19 (8%); and Concerns about becoming ineligible for life insurance after getting COVID-19 (4%) According to Andrew Ostro, co-founder and CEO of PolicyMe, those concerns are driving real action....

Green Shield Canada (GSC) is wading into the world of genetics-based drug treatment with an investment in GenXys, a Canadian pharmacogenomics leader. Under the newly announced relationship, the two companies will collaborate on novel pharmacogenomics products to drive more informed pharmaceutical prescriptions, fewer adverse drug reactions, and better health outcomes for patients. The products are slated for release later this year. “We are excited to be working with the GSC team as we shape the next stages of the pharmacogenomics story,” said GenXys CEO Karl Pringle. “Our partnership opens the door to a wide range of new possibilities.” “GenXys stood out as a forward-thinking partner that shared our commitment to solving complex health challenges,” added David Willows, EVP, Digital, Innovation and Brand Experience at GSC. The investment in GenXys follows a study conducted by GSC and HBM+, GSC’s health benefit management solutions provider, which explored how pharmacogenomics influenced outcomes on over 200 outpatients diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and other major mental health conditions. Among the study’s results, which will be shared later this summer, is that patients receiving pharmacogenomics-guided treatment reported markedly greater improvements over a six-month period. That applied to a variety of clinical measures, including severity of depression...

Three industry organizations are partnering on a joint mortality experience study that will compare individual life mortality involving COVID-19 now and into the near future. LIMRA, the Society of Actuaries (SOA) and TAI are currently working on an inaugural report to release later this summer. “This study will help our members understand the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality, and identify the market segments that are most likely to see the greatest impact from the disease,” said Marianne Purushotham, corporate vice president and head of LIMRA Data Sciences and Center of Excellence in Analytics. “This data may also help our industry predict potential outcomes from future pandemics, enabling life insurers to conduct more effective scenario planning and preparations.” This experience study will make use of the individual life insurance data stored in the TAI Reinsurance Administration system, which includes over 90 percent of the top 50 life insurers in North America. Leveraging this data will help provide a faster and more consistent data collection process and will reduce the burden on insurers to find resources to compile data. “This joint research project will provide a deeper understanding of the current state of mortality in the individual life insurance industry,”...

Staff | May 26, 2020 Green Shield Canada is investing in Canadian pharmacogenetics company GenXys Health Care Systems. The two companies will be collaborating on new pharmacogenetic products, which are set to launch later this year, with a focus on driving more informed prescribing, fewer adverse drug reactions and better health outcomes for patients and plan members. “GSC has a long history of measuring the value of health benefits spending and we look forward to exploring the role of pharmacogenomics in maximizing patient health outcomes and advancing the specific value of drug spend,” said David Willows, the insurer’s executive vice-president of digital, innovations and brand experience, in a press release. Read: Does pharmacogenetic testing have a place in long-term disability programs? The investment comes on the heels of a study conducted by Green Shield Canada and HBM+ on the impact of pharmacogenetics on more than 200 outpatients who had been diagnosed with major mental-health conditions, including depression and anxiety. While the full study results will be shared later this summer, the press release noted one key finding stands out: those patients receiving pharmacogenetics-guided treatment reported significantly greater improvements over a six-month period across a range of clinical outcome measures, including severity of depression and...