Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Newswire.com Robert Kerzner, CLU, ChFC, former President and CEO of LIMRA, LOMA, and LL Global Inc., is joining the PHP Agency Inc. Board of Directors. PHP is proud to add one of the most highly focused and experienced experts in financial services to its team. After graduating from Central Connecticut State University in 1974, Bob joined Hartford Life and set performance records in field sales and management. After accruing 20 years of experience, he moved to senior management, where he was EVP of the life division and oversaw all aspects of the life insurance business, successfully leading the division through dramatic growth and record-breaking financial performance. He also served as President of Woodbury Financial, a broker-dealer owned by The Hartford. In 2004, Bob became President and CEO of LIMRA, the world’s largest association of life insurance and financial services companies. He built experience in a vast number of areas as he led the merger of LIMRA and LOMA, which had a combined representation of more than 1,200 members across more than 70 countries, including most of the world’s largest life insurance companies. Bob’s leadership, experience, and commitment led LIMRA and LOMA to new heights, strengthened their financial health, and positioned...

Staff | December 5, 2019 While 54 per cent of Canadian employees said they prefer a bonus as a holiday reward, just 15 per cent said they expect to receive one this year, according to a new survey by ADP Canada Co. Among employer respondents, the most common reward they provide is a holiday party (40 per cent), followed by holiday gifts (16 per cent) and additional time off (14 per cent). Just seven per cent of employers said they’re planning to provide a charitable donation or activity to employees. Read: Employees to put holiday bonuses towards financial well-being: survey For employees, nearly a quarter (23 per cent) said they’d like to receive more time off and 22 per cent said they’d like their employer to host a holiday party. Some 11 per cent of respondents said they’d prefer to receive no holiday reward at all, while eight per cent showed interest in a charitable donation or activity. “This study highlights the importance of having open conversations with employees regarding holiday rewards and incentives to manage employee expectations,” said Heather Haslam, vice-president of marketing at ADP Canada, in a press release. “By taking the time to gain a better understanding of what employees want and how they prefer to...

Julius Melnitzer | December 5, 2019 The Alberta Court of Appeal has upheld a $267,017 award to a pensioner for negligent misrepresentation after the Alberta Pensions Services Corp. provided mistaken estimates of the pensioner’s retirement benefits. But the lawyer for Dr. William Calder and his wife says the ruling, which also validated a change in the ASPC’s interpretation of the governing legislation,  doesn’t adequately cover the losses of the six couples she represented in the Calder suit and whose damages have yet to be negotiated with the APSC. Read: Arbitrator rules hospital must compensate pensioner rehired part time for benefits “Dr. Calder’s damages would have been quite close to $1.5 million had the court upheld the interpretation of the Public Sector Pensions Plan Act that the APSC had applied for almost two decades,” says Rita Richardson, founder of Richardson Law Office in Calgary. “I’ve never seen anything like this before, where the change in interpretation that affected so many people took place so many years after the original one had been established and consistently applied.” Richard says about 25 pensioners were affected by the change in interpretation, with 23 seeing reductions in their pensions. “And there are about 100 employees who will be similarly affected...

By Jason MacDonald, FoxQuilt— Fall and winter may mean cold and frosty weather in Ontario and across most of Canada, but these months also mark some of the biggest holidays of the year, including Christmas/Hanukkah and New Year’s Eve. Throughout the season, there’s holiday cheer, fun and parties but with that comes an increase in accidents and danger too. That’s why we broke down some major safety and home insurance tips for you – no matter the holiday or occasion: Christmas Keep your sidewalks and driveway clear of snow and ice by shovelling and applying salt. You can be held liable if a neighbour or guest slips and falls on your property. If you have a gas or natural fireplace, never leave it unattended if it’s lit. Keep children and pets away from the fire as well as hanging decorations. Remember to extinguish it before bed or leaving the house. Consider investing in an artificial, fire-resistant tree. If you prefer a live one, remember to keep it watered. Dry trees can become flammable and a fire hazard especially if it’s covered in lights. Be safe and smart about electronic lights and decorations! Don’t overload or daisy-chain extension cords. Never staple...

Alethea Spiridon | December 5, 2019 Perceptions of the stigma around receiving professional psychological help can be a barrier to seeking out mental-health services, according to a new study. The study, which was published by the Employee Assistance Trade Association’s EASNA Research Notes, looked into perceptions of stigma in relation to seeking help from employee assistance programs in a sample of Canadian employees between the ages of 20 and 65. While treatment stigma is often studied in relation to getting help through mental-health services, the study found perceptions of stigma are a barrier to seeking help from a workplace benefit such as an EAP. “A greater understanding of EAP-related stigma could help employers and EAP providers develop strategies and interventions aimed at breaking down this barrier and attaining utilization rates unhindered by worker perceptions about help-seeking,” says Marc Milot, the study’s author. Read: What you don’t know about your employee assistance program Almost a quarter (23 per cent) of participating employees reported perceptions of stigma when receiving help from an EAP. The greater the stigma reported by an employee, the lower their self-reported likelihood of getting help from the program. “From a Canadian perspective, the deployment of educational interventions in the workplace aimed at increasing familiarity with EAPs and addressing perceptions of treatment stigma...

Naples Daily News (FL) The Bonita Springs man, accused in the 2015 killing of his wife with two other men, was found guilty as charged by a Lee County Jury on Wednesday. Mark Sievers, 51, was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder after jurors deliberated for about four hours. His wife, Teresa Sievers, 46, was found bludgeoned to death on the kitchen floor of her family’s home on Jarvis Road in Bonita Springs on June 29, 2015. The trial for Mark Sievers will now move into a penalty phase, where it will be determined if Mark Sievers is sentenced to death. Jurors will return to the Lee County Justice Center at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday for the next portion of the trial. Members of Teresa Sievers’ family, including her mother and siblings, sat in the second row of the gallery behind the prosecution table for the verdict reading. A large group of Teresa Sievers’ family and friends, some who testified in the trial, began crying and embraced each other with hugs after jurors left the courtroom. “We are obviously very happy with the verdict,” Teresa Sievers’ brother Patrick Tottenham said as he walked out of the courtroom and...

Newest AI product will help professionals in pharmaceutical, aerospace and automotive industries rapidly access the information they need to support decision-making Montréal, QC (Dec. 3, 2019) – Element AI, a global developer of artificial intelligence-powered services and software that helps enterprises to ‘operationalize’ AI, is pleased to announce the general availability of its Element AI Knowledge Scout decision-support product, the latest addition to the company’s portfolio of AI-powered software solutions. Focused on turning previously untapped information into actionable insights, Element AI Knowledge Scout organizes and manages both structured and unstructured data, and through deep AI opens up unparalleled access to knowledge for today’s industries as they tackle increasingly complex data-intensive problems. To be rolled out to customers in early 2020, Knowledge Scout will enable specialists to draw faster insights from existing institutional data to ultimately optimize operational responsiveness. In an organizational setting, data is plentiful but insights are hard to capture. A great deal of this institutional knowledge is tacit and retaining it can be extremely challenging when an expert isn’t present or leaves the company. As such, when a problem arises, employees often don’t have the experience-based information needed to solve the problem because this knowledge has yet to...

Company to make strategic acquisition as a critical element of its digital solutions that seamlessly connect agencies, brokers, insurers and insureds throughout the insurance lifecycle University Park, IL (Dec. 4, 2019) – Applied Systems today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Indio Technologies, Inc. as a critical component of its investment in digitizing the end-to-end commercial lines submissions process across agencies, brokers, insurers and insureds. Indio is the leading solution for the insurance application and renewal process, enabling agencies and brokers to deliver a fully automated client risk data capture and application experience. This acquisition will expand Applied’s commercial lines solutions and demonstrates the company’s commitment to advancing connectivity in the insurance lifecycle to create greater automation and value for all stakeholders of the insurance lifecycle. Applied’s acquisition of Indio will enable the company to provide customers a collaborative and automated data capture experience, increasing the velocity of the insurance application and renewal lifecycle while lowering costs and reducing the risk of errors and omissions. The combined company will deliver tight integration between Indio’s solution and Applied Epic, creating significant productivity and speed advantages for agents and brokers. “In commercial lines today, the process for...

#LockItOrLoseIt Toronto, ON (Dec. 3, 2019) – Ontario’s police leaders are teaming up with the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) and Accident Support Services International to warn motorists to Lock it OR Lose it when it comes to securing their vehicles and valuables this holiday season. The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) has launched its annual Lock It OR Lose It campaign, which encourages drivers and passengers to take precautions to protect their vehicles and contents from theft, particularly during the holiday season. The campaign was kicked off at the Lime Ridge Mall in Hamilton. “The holiday season should be about spending time with our families and friends. Our message is simple: don’t let would-be thieves play the role of Bad Santa by stealing your vehicle or valuables left unsecured. Keep things such as GPS and mobile devices, laptops, shopping bags, money, and credit cards out-of-sight as a way in deter criminal activities.” said OACP President Chief Paul Pedersen. This year’s Lock it OR Lose it campaign is being launched during the holiday season because it’s easy for people to be distracted and leave their vehicles unlocked or valuables in plain sight during the festive hustle-and-bustle. Police will use...

Insurers should develop five-year quantum-readiness roadmaps and factor new developments into core, security, and AI strategies: Novarica Boston, MA (Nov. 21, 2019) – Quantum computing has the potential to break the barriers of classical computing, forcing a redesign of the fundamental technology underlying data protection, risk modeling, and analytics. In its latest report, Quantum Computing and Insurance: Overview and Potential Players, research and advisory firm Novarica advises insurers to factor Quantum into their long-term technology plans. The new brief provides an overview of quantum computing developments, current challenges, potential areas of impact for insurers, recommendations for insurers preparing to become quantum-ready, and short profiles of current players actively developing solutions in this space. “The rise of quantum computing also offers insurers considerable growth opportunities,” said Mitch Wein, Senior Vice President of Research and Consulting and co-author of Novarica’s new report. “If adopted early and leveraged thoughtfully, quantum computing has the potential to give carriers a competitive advantage in risk modeling accuracy, core systems agility, data security, and AI-driven offerings and initiatives. The competitive risk to carriers for not leveraging quantum will grow as quantum computing capabilities become cloud-accessible.” Click here for the table of contents or to access the report....