Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

According to a new research from Canadian online insurance brokerage PolicyyAdvisor.com, an overwhelming majority of Canadians with dependents are significantly underinsured and have not acknowledged the severity of their situations. In its inaugural State of the Nation: Canadian Life Insurance Trends 2019 report, the firm shared insights on consumer trends and attitudes surrounding life insurance ownership, needs, knowledge and digital appetite. The report drew from a SurveyMonkey panel of more than 500 qualified Canadian respondents who indicated they had financial dependents. “The findings were eye-opening, to say the least,” said Jiten Puri, founder and CEO of PolicyAdvisor.com. “We had some general expectations about what we would learn, but some of the hard numbers paint a starker picture about financial unpreparedness than we had anticipated.” Among those surveyed, nearly half (49%) said they had never purchased life insurance before. And of those who said they have a life insurance policy, 40% reported having coverage only through a work or group benefits plan. “While a life insurance policy through one’s employer is better than none at all, in most cases the coverage is minimal, and maybe equivalent to only one or two years of the policyholder’s salary,” Puri said. Someone who leaves their workplace...

Staff | October 29, 2019 The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is appointing Zubaid Ahmad to the newly created role of senior advisor, United States. “This appointment elevates the CPPIB’s partnership and deal origination efforts to an even stronger position in the world’s largest investment market,” said the press release. Based out of New York City, Ahmad’s position is effective immediately. The role will focus on identifying and evaluating potential investment opportunities and partners that fit the CPPIB’s strategy, as well as enhancing the CPPIB’s position in the U.S. market, which currently amounts to $126.5 billion or 31.6 per cent of the CPPIB’s total investments. Read: CPPIB partners to capitalize European logistics venture “The U.S. remains the largest investment region for CPPIB and appointing Zubaid as senior advisor will build on our presence and network of investment partners,” said Alain Carrier, senior managing director and head of international at the CPPIB. “Amid the competitive investment landscape, adding another dedicated resource with Zubaid’s expertise and network will help to focus our efforts and identify new opportunities across asset classes.” Ahmad has more than 35 years of global experience in corporate finance and relationship management with deep ties to the investment banking and private equity communities. He’s the founder...

Staff | October 29, 2019 Manulife Financial Corp. is teaming up with Mila, a Quebec artificial intelligence institute, on health and financial wellness research projects. The partnership will allow the insurer to beef up its AI and advanced analytics capabilities and to “deliver on its commitment to help make decisions easier and lives better,” noted a press release. The collaboration will provide Manulife with access to a variety of startups connected to top universities, expand its pool of data scientists and redefine its customer experience, said Richard Payette, president and chief executive officer of Manuvie Quebec. Read: Caisse and partner looking to accelerate AI developments in Quebec “This is yet another way in which we are using digitization and innovation to put customers first and improve how they interact with us to ensure we exceed their expectations and deliver on our ambition to become a digital, customer-centric market leader.” Mila was co-founded by AI expert Yoshua Bengio and developed by Université de Montréal and McGill University, along with École Polytechnique de Montréal and HEC Montréal. Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com

Staff | October 29, 2019 The merger of Torstar Corp.’s defined benefit pension plans into the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan’s DBPlus has crossed the first hurdle with the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. The FRSA has issued notices of an intended decision for the merger. By issuing these notices, it’s indicating an intention to consent to the plan mergers following a standard 30-day period to facilitate any requests to the financial services tribunal. Read: How YBS Ottawa merged its pension plan with a bigger player After the 30-day waiting period, and once final consent has been obtained from the FSRA, the final steps of the merger will go ahead, with the transfer of assets expected to be completed by the end of this year. Torstar’s plans are the latest in a number of DB plans joining the CAAT’s plan, which was launched in April 2018 to organizations in the broader public, private and not-for-profit sectors across Canada. In September 2018, members of Torstar’s eight DB pension plans agreed to the merger. Read: Members of Torstar’s eight DB pension plans agree to join CAAT Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com

Do you plan to rent out your property for long-term tenancy in Ottawa, Ontario? Your homeowner’s insurance won’t provide adequate coverage for your rental property. Before you sign a lease agreement, you should purchase proper insurance, advises Sheldon Dietz of RCPM Solutions. Then you can relax, knowing that you are protected against liabilities while any damages get coverage as well. In the following blog, learn all about the insurance needs when renting out your property.   Why do I need rental property insurance? Do you have another property besides your principal residence? If so, you probably rent this out for additional income. And you might have bought the property intending to grow your investment. Owning a rental unit means you need insurance to protect yourself against unexpected situations. Without proper insurance, you could face significant expenses when something goes wrong. Rental income property insurance covers many aspects. Here are the two main points of coverage:   Liability coverage. This means that you aren’t held responsible for damage or injury to someone else or their personal belongings. Say, for example, your tenant slips and falls down the stairs in your property. When you get sued for damages, your liability coverage protects...

PR Newswire New Partnership Aimed at Providing Personalized Diabetes Support and Management Program Paired with the Protection of Life Insurance and the Potential to Earn up to 25% in Premium Savings TSX/NYSE/PSE: MFC, SEHK: 945 BOSTON, Oct. 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ – John Hancock announced John Hancock Aspire™ with Vitality, the first of its kind life insurance designed specifically for Americans living with diabetes, in collaboration with Verily, an Alphabet company, and Onduo.   Diabetes remains the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, with 1.5 million Americans diagnosed every year.1 Of the more than 30 million Americans living with diabetes, half either don’t have enough life insurance or don’t have any life insurance coverage at all.2,3 Many worry they won’t qualify for a life insurance policy because they have diabetes, and if they can secure coverage they are worried it’s too expensive.3 Further, even those with quality healthcare don’t always have access to state-of-the-art, personalized diabetes management support. John Hancock Aspire offers customers living with diabetes the protection of life insurance paired with a technology-enabled program that provides coaching, clinical support, education, and rewards designed to help manage and improve their health.* All John Hancock Aspire customers will also...

The Cyber Data Exchange Aggregates and Standardizes Industry Cyber Incident Data to Help Carriers and Insurance Professionals More Precisely Evaluate and Price Cyber Risks Jersey City, NJ (Oct. 24, 2019) – Verisk, a leading data analytics provider, is pleased to announce the creation of its Cyber Data Exchange, an analytics solution that aggregates cyber insurance data to help insurers gain insights into the market and improve strategic decision-making. Without access to broad-based, credible, and relevant data, many insurers and professionals in the cyber insurance value chain face serious challenges in making well-informed, strategic decisions about their portfolios, individual policies, and even which coverages they can confidently offer. Verisk’s Cyber Data Exchange looks to help insurers solve many of these challenges. The solution allows participating companies to contribute their data to the exchange, where it is aggregated, summarized, and developed into business intelligence and then returned to these companies through interactive dashboards. Verisk is seeking to broaden the solution further with a wide range of participants, including managing general agents (MGAs), insurers, reinsurers, and brokers. Several prominent cyber insurers are already committed to participate. “The lack of credible quality cyber insurance data is a clear challenge for many insurers. Verisk is...

Montreal, QC (Oct. 24, 2019) – Manulife has announced that it is partnering with Mila – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, an innovation space for artificial intelligence (AI) and technology. Mila was co-founded by world renowned AI and deep learning expert Yoshua Bengio and developed by the Université de Montréal and McGill University with École Polytechnique de Montréal and HEC Montréal. The new partnership enables Manulife to develop new financial and health wellness research projects, enhance its AI and advanced analytics capabilities and deliver on its commitment to help make decisions easier and lives better. “This is yet another way in which we are using digitization and innovation to put customers first and improve how they interact with us to ensure we exceed their expectations and deliver on our ambition to become a digital, customer-centric market leader,” said Richard Payette, President and CEO, Manuvie Québec. “This partnership enables Manulife to tap into a variety of start-ups led by top universities, grow our pool of data scientists and redefine the customer experience – locally, nationally and around the world.” “Mila is pleased to partner with Manulife because we believe that such partnerships are essential to maximizing the potential that AI has to...

As cyber attacks on connected devices increase, Deloitte introduces its state-of-the-art Cyber IoT Studio to research, test and architect technologies for security solutions New York, NY (Oct. 24, 2019) – With the number of connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices anticipated to swell beyond 41 billion by 2025, according to a forecast from IDC, and with the number of cyber attacks on such devices growing exponentially by the day, organizations should put security at the forefront of their priorities around IoT solutions. In an effort to help organizations shore up their security postures, Deloitte offers five tips to address IoT security in the products that organizations deploy in their environments and encourages manufacturers that make connected products to take a secure-by-design approach. From cameras to toothbrushes, thermostats to hospital infusion pumps, connected devices are actively being targeted by cyber adversaries determined to compromise corporate and individual privacy, construct botnets, place malicious software and steal intellectual property. The risk of compromise to a connected device is too great to ignore and often too late to reactively respond to. Organizations should adopt a proactive, secure-by-design approach while strategically and intentionally working to monitor and patch outdated legacy equipment, software and infrastructure.Sean Peasley,...

New and enhanced capabilities of leading Applied technologies to further drive significant business value through digital transformation University Park, IL (Oct. 23, 2019) – Applied Systems® has announced innovative updates across its Digital Agency™ and Brokerage portfolio. The latest advancements enable greater connectivity between agencies, brokerages, insurer partners and the end insured to create greater collaboration for higher-value business transactions and operational efficiencies. Applied made the announcement at Applied Net 2019, the world’s largest gathering of independent agents, brokers, insurers and MGAs, at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. “The digital revolution of insurance is creating opportunities for agencies, brokerages and insurers to leverage technology to automate operations and connect to each stakeholder in the insurance lifecycle in new ways,” said Michael Howe, senior vice president of Product Management, Applied Systems. “Applied’s latest Digital Agency and Brokerage innovations enable agents and brokers to further revolutionize the ways they create value for their business and the end insured. Digital Agency and Brokerage innovation includes: A foundational agency/brokerage management system The latest enhancements of Applied Epic drives greater efficiency and value for agencies and brokerages worldwide through more automated workflows, integrated customer communications, and advanced insurer connectivity at each stage...