Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Julius Melnitzer | September 30, 2019 The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that a strict examination of the language of an incentive plan is the key to determining whether a terminated employee is entitled to damages for a lost opportunity to earn incentive plan compensation during the reasonable notice period. “If there’s something in the language that clearly entitles the employer to terminate the plan unilaterally, the terminated employee would not have earned anything after the plan’s termination even if he had been on the job,” says Monty Verlint, a lawyer at employment law boutique Littler LLP. The issue arose when James Manastersky, an employee with 13 years of service, sued the Royal Bank of Canada’s brokerage services brand, RBC Dominion Securities, for wrongful dismissal after he turned down a termination offer. Read: A look at trends in long-term incentive plans Manastersky joined the bank in 2001 as director of a mezzanine fund. From 2004 to 2014, he participated in a specific incentive compensation plan that depended on the performance of the fund. In mid-2013, RBC Dominion Securities told Manastersky it was reconsidering its investment in the fund. The following February, he was terminated without cause and offered his base salary, bonus payments and benefits for...

In years past, the life insurance industry primarily targeted men as their most lucrative market segment; traditionally, men were the breadwinners in almost every family, so this made sense. Times have changed, however, and the number of women who work to contribute to their family’s financial well-being has increased to a near-record high. With this many women in the workforce, it would be logical that the percentage of women who carry a life insurance policy would be similar to the percentage of men who also have life insurance, but this is not the case. Recent insurance industry studies have revealed that more than half of adult women in America do not carry a life insurance policy, and of those women who have life insurance, the amount of coverage that they carry is only about half of the coverage that adult males in America carry. Even though the average woman’s paycheck is smaller than that of the average man’s paycheck, the disparity in the amount of life insurance should not be so great. The good news is that more and more women are assessing their financial health and realizing that they need to hold a life insurance policy or to increase their life...

San Antonio, TX (Sept. 24, 2019) – Fender benders. Bumper scrapes. Door dings. Parking lot taps. These scenarios can happen to the best of us. And most people know that after a fender bender, the claims process can sometimes be emotionally trying because it includes adjusters, appraisers, rental cars and body shop visits. In order to make the claims experience faster and more efficient, USAA and Google Cloud have developed machine learning models that will allow for nearly instant vehicle damage estimates from digital images. Here is how it works: First, images of damaged vehicles are sent to Google Cloud. The images are then analyzed by Google Cloud models in real-time, which makes damaged part predictions that are returned to USAA. Next, the predictions are sent digitally to estimating and technology solution provider Mitchell International, whose platform maps the predicted parts to real-parts and incorporates them directly into an actual estimate. USAA appraisers then review the Mitchell estimate, and make changes as needed. The machine learning models and estimate integration help save appraisers time, and the appraiser feedback helps improve the models synergistically. USAA has already begun to experiment with image-to-estimate through the use of drones and aerial imagery during...

First integrated smart glasses solution improves accuracy and efficiency in auto repair, increasing convenience to enable proper and safe repair San Diego, CA (Sept. 24, 2019) – Mitchell, a leading provider of technology, connectivity and information solutions to the Property & Casualty (P&C) claims and Collision Repair industries, has developed a proof-of-concept XR (Extended Reality) smart glasses solution for collision repair facilities, in strategic collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Mitchell CEO Alex Sun and Qualcomm Technologies’ Hugo Swart will discuss the solution and showcase the proof of concept at the 2019 Mitchell mPower Conference on October 1, 2019. The Mitchell smart glasses solution utilizes commercial smart glasses powered by the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ XR Platform. The solution gives repairers a single tool to access and utilize the resources they need to enable a proper and safe repair, during the repair, without disrupting their workflow. Through use of extended reality, repair technicians save time by operating the glasses hands-free, using voice activation to access the most up-to-date, vehicle-specific repair procedures, within their field of vision. The solution also allows technicians to call and collaborate with other experts in real-time, right at the vehicle, and streamlines important functions such as check-in and check-out...

New SMA Blog by Mark Breading, Partner, Strategy Meets Action — After three intense and exhausting days at ITC2019, I’m a little conflicted. It was quite exciting. And there are many fascinating companies and ideas that are truly transforming our industry. But then King Solomon’s words (from the Bible) come to mind – “There is nothing new under the Sun.” I don’t mean to express negative sentiment regarding the state of InsurTech and innovation in insurance. It’s just that, in many ways, what we are witnessing is an increasing maturity of the movement. Of course, virtually everyone is talking about AI/machine learning. Digital transformation is high on the list of activities and discussions. New options for distribution, the evolution of new ecosystems, and the continuing progress of the new era of computing are compelling topics. And finally, the potential and progress of transformational technologies like the IoT, autonomous vehicles, wearables, and many other technologies are what is fueling much of the innovation. But it still leaves me wondering whether I saw anything fundamentally new at ITC. There were a few announcements and companies that raised some eyebrows, to say the least. Here is my list of those that the industry...

No city anywhere is “close to ready” for the disruption of Artificial Intelligence Oliver Wyman Forum Index ranks 105 cities in four different population size categories Not one city, large or small, is fully prepared for the challenges ahead Globally, 45 percent of respondents think their jobs are at risk New York, NY (Sept. 26, 2019) – No city in the world is ready for the disruptions that will be brought on by the Age of AI, and significant improvements must be made by governments and private-sector institutions to fully prepare for the challenges that lie ahead. These are the findings of a global study conducted by the Oliver Wyman Forum, which ranked 105 international cities in terms of their preparedness for the broad technological and digital disruption that will be spurred by AI and related technologies. The index ranks cities on four key criteria: the quality of a city’s plan (Vision); a city’s ability to execute on forward-looking plans (Activation); the extent and quality of talent, education, and infrastructure (Asset Base); and how the interplay of Activation and Asset Base are impacting its overall momentum (Trajectory). Singapore shows the most readiness overall, with an average score of 75.8 out...

Cloud-native platform aims to improve operational efficiency, reduce time-to-market Atlanta, GA (Sept. 25, 2019) – Infosys McCamish, a US-based subsidiary of Infosys BPM and a leading developer of platform-driven solutions and services in the insurance and financial services industry, has launched Infosys McCamish NGIN, a new industry platform for the Global Life Insurance and Annuity industry. This platform is founded on an evolutionary architecture, configurable to address global and regional needs of insurance carriers. With plug-and-play components using open source technologies, it is simple to use, enhances time-to-market, and promotes a superior digital experience, while driving substantial operational efficiencies. Infosys McCamish NGIN is designed to be a single, go-to platform, comprising a comprehensive set of functionalities across all product lines and value chain functionalities. It encompasses features for term, whole life, universal life, and annuities. At the heart of the platform is a geo and tax regime independent core, and can be extended to meet regional and client-specific needs. “The global life insurance and annuity industry is at an opportune moment to take advantage of the paradigm shift in the technology landscape, especially the API economy and cloud,” said Richard Magner, CEO and Managing Director, Infosys McCamish Systems. “The industry...

Quebec City, QC (Sept. 25, 2019) – iA Financial Group has announced the merger of two companies of its group: Excellence Life Insurance Company (hereinafter “Excellence”) and Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. (hereinafter “iA Insurance”). Subject to regulatory approval, the merger will take effect on January 1, 2020. For the approximately 175,000 Excellence clients, this merger will be done with full transparency and no action on their part will be required. iA Financial Group will respect all commitments made by Excellence. This merger will ensure the synergy of both companies’ operations and improve operational efficiency, and will have little to no direct impact on jobs. “We are bringing the operations of Excellence and iA Insurance together under the iA Financial Group brand. The integration of the companies’ operations will provide gains in operational efficiency and facilitate continuous improvement in favour of a simpler client experience and a more fluid advisor experience by proposing single way of doing business with iA Financial Group”, highlights Renée Laflamme, Executive Vice-President, Individual Insurance, Savings and Retirement at iA Financial Group. As a reminder, iA Insurance acquired Excellence in 2008. This acquisition allowed the former to break into the individual disability and health...

New initiatives to improve health and safety in Ontario workplaces Toronto, ON (Sept. 25, 2019) – The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) announced a 17 per cent reduction to the 2020 average premium rate at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) today. This marks the fourth year in a row the WSIB has reduced the average premium rate and fully eliminates the premium surcharge businesses were paying to cover a historic unfunded liability. “Eliminating our unfunded liability last year paved the way for us to implement a new premium rate-setting model that levels the playing field, boosts fairness and increases transparency,” said Elizabeth Witmer, Chair of the WSIB. “We are pleased that we have been able to help more people recover and return to work while reducing premiums for Ontario businesses.” Reducing the average premium rate from $1.65 to $1.37 is expected to leave approximately $607 million in the economy that businesses can invest in new jobs, new technology and workplace health and safety improvements. “Our focus now is on improving service for people and making Ontario a safer place to work,” said Thomas Teahen, President and CEO of the WSIB. “Today we announced new online services and a new...

Vancouver, BC (Sept. 24, 2019) – Rise People Inc., a leading digital HR, payroll and group benefits platform, has officially launched in Quebec. Reinforcing its commitment to the business community in this market, Rise is offering its payroll service free until the end of the year. Today’s announcement further demonstrates the company’s commitment to advancing the innovation and growth of businesses across Canada. The official launch of the bilingual Rise platform and expansion in Quebec is being led by former Sun Life executive, Diane Lafontaine, and supported by an experienced team based in Montreal to service Quebec clients. “We know first-hand how complex payroll and group benefits can be in Quebec. Companies are switching from legacy solutions to Rise for a simple, fully integrated solution,” shares Diane Lafontaine. “Our goal is to provide outstanding client experiences from our Montreal-based client support centre with an offer that makes it easier for businesses to enhance workplace satisfaction and simplify HR administration.” Rise People’s comprehensive payroll service makes processing payments to employees simple and ensures 100% compliance with government agencies. For Quebec businesses of all sizes and in all industries, the free payroll offering provides more opportunities to significantly reduce the amount of...