Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Desjardins Group is in the midst of contacting its 2.9 million members making them aware that their personal information has been shared with individuals outside the company. “This situation is the outcome of unauthorized and illegal use of our internal data by an employee who has since been fired. In light of these events, and given the circumstances, additional security measures were put in place on all accounts. Desjardins Group will be sending a letter to all members affected by the incident.” Personal members may have had the following information affected: first and last name, date of birth, social insurance number, address, phone number, email address and details about your banking habits and Desjardins products. However, passwords, security questions and personal identification numbers were not compromised. Desjardins reassuring members and clients Desjardins said the incident was not a cyberattack and that its computer systems were in no way breached during the incident. “I’d like to reassure our members and clients: their accounts and assets with Desjardins are protected in the event of fraud. If they suffer a financial loss as a result of this situation, they will get their money back. We regret this situation and are making every effort...

Mileage-based insurance option now offered to Porsche drivers in Illinois and Oregon Atlanta, GA (June 20, 2019) – A new breed of insurance is available to Porsche drivers. Porsche Auto Insurance delivers tailored insurance rates matched with exceptional customer service – all without compromising privacy. The innovative solution meets the unique needs of Porsche drivers by limiting costs to actual miles driven, plus a low base rate. In addition to tailored rates, customers can expect an added layer of privacy: simply take a photo of your odometer to submit your mileage instead of using invasive tracking devices or always-on smartphone apps. Porsche Auto Insurance customers will also receive exceptional service and have access to an exclusive collection of benefits that complement their Porsche vehicle. Pay-per-mile rates, non-invasive data collection, Porsche Genuine Parts, claims concierge, and agreed value coverage are just a few benefits you’ve always wanted and can now obtain. Porsche Auto Insurance is offered in partnership between Porsche Financial Services, Inc. (PFS) and Mile Auto, Inc. (Mile Auto). “Innovation has been at the core of Porsche’s success story for the last 70 years,” said Ross Dupper, President and CEO of Porsche Financial Services, the dedicated provider of leasing and...

Acquisition advances NFP’s leadership in the surety and commercial insurance space, scales company’s surety bond capabilities internationally New York, NY (June 20, 2019) – NFP, a leading insurance broker and consultant that provides property and casualty (P&C), corporate benefits, retirement, and individual solutions, today announced that it has acquired Excel Bonds & Insurance Services, Inc. The transaction closed effective May 1, 2019. Excel Bonds & Insurance is a commercial insurance and surety bond broker based in Sacramento, California. Excel boasts a diverse, international client portfolio, including middle-market and large-scale firms across the U.S. and Canada in the waste management, construction, real estate and manufacturing industries, among others. Cathy Skeen and Dave Garese, former founders and principals, will join NFP as senior vice presidents, reporting to John Hyland, senior vice president and the head of the Surety division. “We are thrilled to welcome Cathy and Dave to the NFP family and look forward to the impact of their wealth of cumulative experience providing comprehensive surety and commercial insurance solutions worldwide,” said Henry Lombardi, executive vice president and head of NFP’s Property and Casualty division. “Excel has distinguished itself by delivering exceptional client service. I look forward to working closely with John...

Financial Horizons Group, in collaboration with FindBob, has announced that BookMark, a web-based succession platform, is now available to the entire network of Financial Horizons Group advisors Toronto, ON (June 19, 2019) – From personalized succession planning tools to an AI-driven advisor matching and teaming marketplace, Financial Horizons Group (FHG) continues to support the future strength of their advisor network through its BookMark platform, powered by FindBob. The leading digital succession platform, FindBob, has been in partnership with FHG for nearly one year, and as this milestone approaches, FHG is making the platform available to all of their advisors. “Our partnership with Financial Horizons Group is exciting for us because it means we’re even closer to putting the insurance and financial services industry back on solid footing in relation to continuity and succession,” said Roland Chan, CEO of FindBob. “By providing Financial Horizons Group with the ability to deep dive into their advisors’ goals, activities, and current and future status using machine learning and predictive technology, we’re enabling them to validate their strategies around their agent intelligence to ensure they’ve uncovered the gaps and risks and have actionable solutions to address them.” “Our research found that the vast majority of...

Vancouver, BC (June 20, 2019) – Apollo Insurance has reluctantly admitted that its recently announced gluten-free insurance policy is not in fact on the blockchain. After thorough examination by excited parties the InsurTech firm was forced to backpedal on rumours that their newest product was secured on the widely popular distributed ledger smart contract system. “We were excited about how forward-thinking our revolutionary gluten-free insurance policy was,” says Apollo CEO Jeff McCann. “Obviously, it came as quite a shock to potential investors and insurance companies when we revealed there was no blockchain involved, only JavaScript was used.  We are waiting to hear back if our lack of blockchain will impact our ability to solicit investment and participation from major insurance companies, who seem to be flocking to blockchain-based solutions.” Policyholders who were hoping to avoid gluten need not worry. However, those who were seeking out a policy containing or executed on the blockchain will be disappointed. McCann added that these are not just meaningless buzzwords, they are integral parts of any would-be InsurTech venture. The tokenization of gluten-free insurance continues to elude the Canadian landscape. Apollo remains hopeful that there are traces of AI and machine learning in the policy,...

Montreal, QC (June 19, 2019) – With moving day fast approaching, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) would like to point out that 37% of tenants are not insured, even though home insurance could make all the difference in case of loss. Average premium for tenants: $281 in 2017 According to the data collected by IBC from its members, it costs tenants less than $1 a day, or $281 on average per year, to insure their belongings. However, the average claim paid out by insurers in 2017 was $5,542. IBC notes that home insurance helpfully covers policyholders in relation to: Belongings (furniture, clothing, electronic equipment, etc.) based on an amount determined by the insured; Civil liability for damages they may unintentionally cause someone else; Additional living expenses for lodging and food payable by a tenant following a covered loss. “Every year, we hear sad stories of families that have lost everything. We’d like to make tenants aware of the importance of protecting their property by having insurance. Contrary to popular belief, the building owner’s insurance doesn’t cover the tenant’s property. So it makes even more sense to look into getting and shopping around for tenant insurance,” notes Line Crevier, Supervisor, Technical...

Toronto, ON (June 20, 2019) – Intact Financial has announced it has partnered with Snapsheet to launch a photo estimating service in Ontario via its virtual claims app. Ontario drivers who are insured through Intact can now take advantage of this option. “At Intact, we are always looking for new ways to improve the customer experience and making the claims process easier and more efficient for customers,” said Intact in a company statement. “As an option for customers, we started offering Snapsheet in the auto claims process in Ontario in March. The feedback from customers who have chosen this path has been positive as it saves them time – they no longer need to take their vehicle into a shop for an estimate before booking in for repairs.” Streamlining the auto insurance claims submission process, the service allows drivers who have been in a collision to take a photo of the damage and submit a First Notice of Loss through the app to their insurance carrier, who can immediately assesses vehicle wreckage to estimate the repair cost based on information in a database of legacy claims. The move could prove significant for collision repair centres in Canada’s largest and most...

Intermediaries addressing appetite transparency, submission streamlining, and quote/bind capabilities: Novarica Boston, MA (June 20, 2019) – As insurance distribution connectivity continues to evolve, new solution providers are entering the market that assist carriers and their distribution partners with services that improve the ease of doing business. In a new report, Distribution Connectivity Evolution: Overview and Prominent Players, research and advisory firm Novarica provides an overview of this new distribution ecosystem with profiles of the prominent players. “What makes these capabilities different is their focus on improving the customer experience by simplifying the journey of the distribution channel,” said Kevin Rall, Vice President of Research and Consulting and co-author of Novarica’s new report. “Carriers should stay informed and have a plan for navigating these new layers of digital transformation as they become table stakes.” A preview of the brief is available online. Emerging distribution connectivity (Novarica) Summary: Insurance distribution connectivity continues to evolve. Intermediaries are providing more than just connectivity between agency management systems and carrier systems. In addition to traditional quote/bind hubs, agents, carriers, and prospective insureds can now leverage intermediaries that provide appetite transparency and submission streamlining as well as digital wholesalers. This brief provides an overview of this...

Justice Department Documents & Publications DENVER — Daniel B. Rudden, age 72 of Denver, Colo., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Christine M. Arguello to serve 121 months (just over 10 years) in federal prison, followed by 3 years on supervised release for mail fraud after he defrauded 175 investors out of more than $19 Million, announced U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn and FBI Denver Field Office Special Agent in Charge Dean Phillips. Rudden was also ordered to pay restitution of $19,609,905.21 to victims of his Ponzi scheme. Rudden appeared at the hearing free on bond and was remanded at the hearing’s conclusion. According to court documents, Rudden was the President and sole owner of Financial Visions, Inc. (FV). FV’s business model was based on taking assignments on life insurance policies in order to pay for funeral expenses. When a family experienced the death of a family member and could not afford the funeral expenses, FV would pay the funeral home and/or cemetery for those expenses and take an assignment on the deceased’s life insurance proceeds. When the insurance company paid the proceeds, it would pay FV directly for the funeral expenses that FV had fronted. FV charged the family...

Investors are more or less satisfied with self-directed investment firms, but they’re missing the mark with millennials when it comes to digital, according to a J.D. Power report. In fact, states the report, some 27% of younger investors are considering switching providers in the next year. The study indicates that when it comes to interactions with their financial institution, millennials are more likely than older investors to rely on mobile technology to engage with investment firms and to use mobile much differently than boomers.  While boomers favour tablets, millennials rely on their phones for a wide range of transactions that go well beyond trading and checking account balances. Younger investors want seamless experience “Millennials are expecting a seamless digital experience, regardless of the platform,” said Michael Foy, senior director of Wealth & Lending Intelligence at J.D. Power. “The expectation of young investors is to have a mobile experience that offers full functionality to do anything they can on the website, whether that means executing trades, transferring funds, reviewing their portfolio, or even using tools. Financial institutions that want to build loyalty with this critical segment need to improve the customer experience to reflect investors’ priorities and expectations.” According to the...