Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

The OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance (OLHI) announced on Aug. 13 that its Board of Directors has appointed Glenn O’Farrell as Chief Executive Officer and Ombudsman. O’Farrell will assume his functions in OLHI’s Toronto office Aug 19. Until recently, he held the position of CEO of Groupe Média TFO. Prior to this role, O’Farrell served as Vice-President, Réseau Pathonic TVA, Québec City; General Counsel, Chief Regulatory Officer, Senior Vice-President at CanWest Global, Toronto; President of Global Québec, Montreal, and President & CEO of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, Ottawa.   “The Board believes that his extensive experience in management, collaborating with stakeholders and leading organizational change in this age of technology will be essential attributes in executing OLHI’s mission” stated Dr. Janice MacKinnon, Chair. “His vast experience with the media will help further the development of the organization and promote its services by raising consumer awareness while continuing to strengthen OLHI’s relationships with their members and various stakeholders.” O’Farrell studied economics, law, business and corporate governance at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Université Laval in Québec City, Johnson School of Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. and at Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. He is a...

Foresters will donate 1% of insurance amount – up to $100,000 – to the policyholder’s designated registered charity of choice Toronto, ON (Aug. 12, 2019) – Foresters Financial™ today announced the addition of its Charitable Benefit Provision to its Term products in Canada.[1] For Term insurance policyholders who select the benefit, Foresters will donate an additional 1% of the basic insurance amount, up to a maximum donation of $100,000, to the designated registered charity when a claim is paid.[2] This charitable contribution will not reduce the death benefit to the beneficiaries in any way. Foresters also announced other Term insurance enhancements including new competitive Term rates, non-medical limits doubled to $500,000,[3] and preferred underwriting for amounts of $500,001 or more. Foresters Financial President and CEO Jim Boyle said, “We’ve been giving back to the community for almost 150 years now – it’s just part of who we are as a Fraternal life insurer. This charitable benefit provision is one more way that we stay true to our roots and remain competitive in the Canadian market.” Term insurance holders receive full member benefits The insured under a Foresters Term policy is also eligible for Foresters membership[4] – members enjoy unique benefits5,...

Toronto, ON (Aug. 9, 2019) – CSIO is pleased to share that the Alberta Superintendent of Insurance has approved the use of electronic proof of automobile insurance (EPAI), or eSlips, in Alberta. With this approval, Alberta drivers can now present their eSlips on their mobile devices when required. This change came into effect on August 12, 2019. Approval in Alberta follows the lead of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, which approved eSlips in January 2018 and July 2019 respectively. The My Proof of Insurance solution was developed by CSIO, in collaboration with brokers and insurers to meet evolving consumer demands for a more seamless, digital experience with their insurance providers. Features of the solution: Available for both personal lines and commercial lines business; Uses digital wallet technology – the customer can store and easily access their eSlip at any time; even offline without internet access; Available to CSIO members at no additional cost. Since the launch of the My Proof of Insurance solution in February 2018, broker adoption has been strong and continues to grow significantly across Canada with 57% of Alberta brokers having embraced the solution to date. Nova Scotia brokers lead the way at 86% adoption, and...

Acquisition increases Humania’s presence in the travel insurance industry Saint-Hyacinthe, QC (Aug. 13, 2019) – Humania Assurance is proud to announce the acquisition of all of Tour+Med’s assets. Created by Mr. Daniel Provencher in 1996, the company providing Tour+Med travel insurance products has an administrative centre in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, and an assistance subsidiary in Florida, USA. Tour+Med is a renowned player in the Canadian travel insurance business, for both short and long trips. Its personalized approach answers the needs of Baby Boomers and Canadian travellers who are declined coverage by other carriers due to age or pre-existing medical conditions. Tour+Med has become a leader in this segment. Humania Assurance and Tour+Med have been working in close collaboration over the last 10 years. “This is a natural and obvious transaction,” said Pierre St-Onge, the new Principal Officer of Tour+Med. “Humania Assurance, our underwriter, has a long expertise in living benefits and they wanted to expand their activities, while we were looking for ways to accelerate our growth in Canada.” “This acquisition promises a synergy increase,” said Stéphane Rochon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Humania Assurance. “Our expertise in digital development, combined with Tour+Med’s expertise in travel insurance, will allow us...

Markham, ON (Aug. 13, 2018) – Quadient, the award-winning leader in Customer Communications Management (CCM), announces the general availability of Quadient Archive & Retrieval. The solution is a high-performance, highly scalable technology that enables businesses to meet compliance standards and improve customer experience by providing quick access to historical documents and data across all channels. Quadient Archive & Retrieval was specifically designed and built to handle large output volumes and document formats, including high-volume batch customer communications and HTML5. Key features and benefits of Quadient Archive & Retrieval include: Seamless integration with Quadient Inspire; The ability to help organizations meet compliance standards of consumer privacy and data regulations, like GDPR, HIPAA, Section 508 and CCPA; Powerful search and rapid retrieval options with a delivery solution for multiple browsers, mobile devices and desktop environments; Unique PDF indexing and optimization capabilities, full text indexing, legal hold and electronic report distribution; The storing of high volumes of documents and data sets in one enterprise archive up to 75 times more efficiently than traditional archive technology. Quadient Archive & Retrieval features the ability to connect to data in the user’s system for analysis by third-party business intelligence tools, including Watson Analytics, Cognos, Tableau and...

Purchase expands service offer in National Capital Region and Québec Toronto, ON (Aug. 13, 2019) – Brookfield Business Partners L.P. announced today an agreement to acquire an aggregate of 48,944,645 common shares of Genworth MI Canada Inc., representing an approximate 57% controlling interest in the business, from Genworth Financial, Inc., for approximately C$2.4 billion, or C$48.86 per share. Immediately prior to entering into the Purchase Agreement, Brookfield Business Partners did not own any common shares in the capital of Genworth Canada. Genworth Canada, through its subsidiary Genworth Financial Mortgage Insurance Company Canada, is the largest private sector residential mortgage insurer in Canada, providing mortgage default insurance to Canadian residential mortgage lenders, making homeownership more accessible to first-time homebuyers. “We are very pleased to make this investment in Genworth Canada, a high-quality leader in the mortgage insurance sector,” said David Nowak, Managing Partner, Brookfield Business Partners. “Genworth is an industry-leading business that generates strong, consistent earnings and operates in a sector with high barriers to entry. We look forward to partnering with management to support its ongoing success, drawing on our expertise in insurance and residential real estate.” Investment Highlights: Essential service provider to the housing market. Genworth Canada is a...

Purchase expands service offer in National Capital Region and Québec Mississauga, ON (Aug. 12, 2019) – FirstOnSite Restoration, Canada’s leading independent disaster restoration services provider, has strengthened its presence in the National Capital Region with the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire JPL Disaster Recovery, a company with more than 50 years of experience and expertise in disaster restoration in Gatineau, Ottawa and the Outaouais region. Founded in 1966, and employing approximately 70 people, JPL is the leading full-service restoration provider in Gatineau, and bringing the two companies together will strengthen FirstOnSite’s presence and leadership across the National Capital Region. “We are delighted that JPL has decided to join the FirstOnSite family,” said Barry J. Ross, EVP, FirstOnSite Restoration. “Together with the fantastic team from JPL we will be able to extend our residential offer to expand the Gatineau region while also providing greater consistency and reach to our commercial customers across Quebec and the National Capital as a whole.” In the past years, FirstOnSite has opened branches in Quebec City, Ottawa and Ste-Agathe, QC, in addition to its regional flagship Montréal branch, making it the largest full service commercial and residential restoration provider in the province of Quebec...

Sonya Felix | August 13, 2019 As plan sponsors continue to look for ways to control drug plan spending, a new study from the University of British Columbia shows that switching from an open to a closed formulary can save big dollars. The study, published this month in the Canadian Medical Association Journal Open, analyzed what happened when the B.C. Hospital Employees’ Union adopted the province’s public formulary in June 2013. Under the change, only drugs listed by the public plan would be covered, though coverage for several popular drugs were indefinitely grandfathered if the drugs were delisted in the formulary. Plan members were also required to follow the rules for reference pricing and prior authorization of many medicines. Read: The debate over drug formularies Using anonymized data from Pacific Blue Cross, the researchers studied the changes in drug plan coverage by examining the 18 months preceding and following the change. Over the study period, the cohort averaged 66,000 plan members and dependants. After the formulary was implemented, the number of prescriptions covered fell by 0.46 per member per month, resulting in a decline of 23.8 per cent after a year. Plan spending dropped by $13.2 million over the 18 months after the coverage change. The...

Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Missouri woman was sentenced Monday to life in prison without parole for killing a mentally disabled man, apparently as part of a complicated plot to divert attention from an unsolved homicide from several years earlier. Pamela Hupp, 60, of the St. Louis suburb of O’Fallon, entered an Alford plea in June on a first-degree murder charge in the 2016 death of 33-year-old Louis Gumpenberger. The plea wasn’t an admission of the crime but conceded that evidence existed for a conviction. Hupp claimed she killed Gumpenberger in self-defense when he tried to kidnap her on Aug. 16, 2016. In reality, St. Charles Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar said, Hupp killed Gumpenberger to distract from the re-investigation of her friend Betsy Faria’s 2011 death. Faria was stabbed to death in neighboring Lincoln County after Hupp became the beneficiary of Faria’s $150,000 life insurance policy. But it was Russ Faria, Betsy’s husband, who was charged and initially convicted in the killing. That conviction was overturned and Russ Faria was acquitted at retrial. He has pointed suspicion at Hupp. Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Michael Wood re-opened the Betsy Faria case. He said in an email that his office...

Edmonton, AB (Aug. 12, 2019) – Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) today welcomes news that the Alberta government will begin allowing drivers to use electronic pink slips as proof of insurance, effective immediately. IBC Vice-President, Western, Celyeste Power, said, “The insurance industry supports any changes that help make insurance easier and more accessible for drivers. The government understands consumers deserve a 21st century insurance product, and we look forward to continuing to work with the government to bring more choice and innovation to Albertans.” Alberta now joins Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador as the only Canadian provinces allowing drivers to show proof of insurance on their smartphones. Most U.S. states also allow digital proof of insurance, and we anticipate more provinces will follow suit. This change improves the auto insurance experience for consumers. Electronic commerce is available to consumers of most other types of business in the financial sector, such as banking, and IBC believes it should be available to consumers of insurance as well. The insurance industry is over-regulated, having to abide by more than 525 regulatory provisions. IBC supports the Government of Alberta’s efforts to cut red tape and promote innovation. Power added, “This is an excellent...