Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Canada Protection Plan believes it is dragging life insurance into the “next century” with its Express Elite Term product. A leader in the no-medical, hard-to-insure market, the company is now moving into the healthy market, enabling Canadians and newcomers with a work permit who are in excellent health and between the ages of 18-60 years to apply either by phone or online. Within a few days, they can receive coverage for up to $500,000 with no medical exams required. Michael Aziz, chief distribution officer at Canada Protection Plan, told LHP this is a natural transition for the company. He said: “If somebody is diagnosed with cancer, has a heart attack or suffers from diabetes, they are going to have a lot of trouble being covered by a leading carrier. We are the leader in that space. “Now we’ve launched a product that continues to be simplified, no-medical but for the healthy market. It takes us into a new space with the same methodology: no medical, simplified issue, issued quickly. It appeals to anybody who does not have any health concerns or lifestyle concerns.” He added: “For example, a healthy young couple, who need a mortgage, want a product issued quickly,...

The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) has announced that Guideline G19, which was supposed to establish conventions for advisor compensation for group benefits and group retirement services, is effectively withdrawn. “Following extensive discussions with market players, including advisors and their associations, and careful consideration of what we heard, we have decided to withdraw this industry guideline,” said CLHIA President and CEO Stephen Frank. The guideline was withdrawn effective May 31. Under the guideline, new contracts for group retirement services would have faced a host of measures related to group retirement services sales on July 1; annual disclosure for existing contracts on January 1, 2020, would also have been applied. In a similar fashion, disclosure measures for group benefits sales would have been implemented beginning January 1, 2020 for new contracts, and January 1, 2021 for existing contracts. With the scrapping of Guideline G19, those measures will not proceed. The announcement came more than a year after a backlash from broker and advisor groups, who accused the CLHIA of being high-handed and inconsiderate of stakeholders’ opinions and concerns in its initial announcement. Some questioned why individual life insurance wasn’t first in line for compensation reform, while others took issue...

While it’s usually advisable to err on the side of caution, health professionals know that going too far could give rise to false positives, which come with their own risks and headaches. A newly reported story from Quebec is a perfect case in point. “Since January 2018, Quebec’s Institute for Excellence in Health and Social Services has discouraged using the PSA [prostate-specific antigen] level as a way to establish risk or a diagnosis of prostate cancer because of the high level of false positives,” reported CBC News. According to the news outlet, that recommendation is based on a 2014 study from Europe, which found 140 false positives from a systematic test of 1,000 men — a “considerable” rate of incidence. But contrary to the institute’s recommendation, one man who applied for life insurance from Manulife found that he was subjected to the exam even though he had not consented to it. “[The nurse] told us specifically they would test for HIV, and I don’t think there was ever any other test mentioned,” Charles Pastori told CBC News. The application form Pastori submitted reportedly had a checkbox for the PSA test, which was left empty. After the laboratory performed the test,...

Great-West Lifeco has completed the sale of its Colorado-based subsidiary, Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company (GWL&A) to Protective Life Insurance Company, the primary subsidiary of Protective Life Corporation. The transaction was conducted through reinsurance of substantially all of GWL&A’s individual life insurance and annuity business, which includes bank-owned and corporate-owned life insurance; single-premium life insurance; individual annuities; and closed block life insurance and annuities. A small block of participating life insurance policies has been retained by GWL&A, though it will be administered by Protective. The reinsurance transaction with Protective covers business written in the US by GWL&A; Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company of New York; and the U.S. branches of GWL&A’s affiliates, The Canada Life Assurance Company and The Great-West Life Assurance Company. “This transaction allows us to focus on the retirement and asset management markets in the U.S.,” said Paul Mahon, President and Chief Executive Officer, Great-West Lifeco, in a previous statement announcing the deal in January. At the time, Great-West Lifeco estimated that the transaction would lead to an after-tax transaction value of approximately $1.6 billion (US$1.2 billion), excluding one-time expenses and subject to contingent post-closing adjustments. That included a considerable positive ceding commission to the...

The Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) is promoting better financial literacy for seniors to help strengthen their knowledge of the world of finance, aid them in their retirements and help them protect themselves against financial abuse. June is Seniors’ Month in several provinces and territories across Canada. The CBA notes that as the proportion of seniors in Canada continues to grow, it is more important than ever to engage them in preparing financially for their future years. “Seniors have always been a significant and growing customer base for banks in Canada,” says Neil Parmenter, president and CEO of the CBA. “The banking industry is committed to serving all segments of the Canadian population and responding to customers’ changing circumstances as they go through different stages of life. “Financial literacy is a life-long learning experience and a critical life skill no matter your age,” adds Parmenter. “Advancing financial literary is an important part of the CBA’s overall mandate.” Banks help seniors with financial needs In addition to helping seniors with their everyday banking needs, the CBA says its members make available general information to their clients on issues such as powers of attorney and joint deposit accounts, provide training to their staff on the disclosure of...

PR Newswire Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company, a national provider of easy-to-understand life insurance products to the middle-American market via direct-to-consumer strategies, announced today their new insurance product with an early payout option, Living Insurance. Living Insurance combines Colonial Penn’s existing simplified issue life insurance with a new optional accelerated benefit feature. It pays a traditional life insurance benefit to the beneficiaries. However, depending on the coverage option selected, up to 50% of the benefit can be accessed by the policyholder to take as an early payout lump-sum payment if they are diagnosed with a chronic illness, terminal illness, heart attack/stroke, or cancer. “Servicing the needs of our customers and offering them peace of mind is our top priority,” said Joel Schwartz, president of Colonial Penn. “Living Insurance was created to not only service the beneficiaries after the policyholder dies, but also as an option for the customer while they are still alive. It provides a living benefit for the consumer to use to help cover any unexpected expenses, like healthcare costs, if the policyholder gets seriously sick. “We know that circumstances change as people get older. That is why we now offer this practical solution to support our customers as their needs and circumstance change so...

Captive insurers deliver value to a variety of stakeholders: Marsh report New York, NY (June 4, 2019) – The number of organizations and risk professionals embracing captives as a tool to secure their future continues to grow, according to Marsh’s latest Captive Landscape Report. Captives in all their forms — including single-parent entities, group captives, protected cell captives, and special purpose vehicles — prove their value every day for a wide variety of industry sectors and types of risks. No matter their structure or premium volume, all captives offer flexibility for their parent organizations’ stakeholders to access and protect capital, accelerate business unit objectives, and protect human capital. Organizations see multiple value drivers for maintaining captives, including acting as formal funding vehicles for self-insured risks, accessing alternative capital, and designing customized insurance coverage. Organizational stakeholders — chief financial officers, treasurers, chief information officers, chief technology officers, human resources executives, and risk managers — all have their own views on captive value propositions. In the context of a risk management program, placing a captive at the center facilitates value drivers and offers support to different stakeholders. Each of these offers specific advantages for an organization. The financial benefits afforded by captives...

Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, FL) The May 9 homicide was staged “to look like a burglary” at Velvet Floyd Burns’ home on Jacksonville’s Westside, according to police. The payment offered to those who stabbed the 44-year-old woman to death in her home on Doris Lane included thousands in cash and a portion of her life insurance, Lt. Craig Waldrup said Monday in announced the arrests of her husband and his mistress. Jerry “Tommy” Allen Burns, 50, told officers he had left the home about 3:30 a.m. for a job in Tallahassee, then a family friend found his wife’s body that afternoon, according to his arrest report. But the investigation revealed he was having an affair with 30-year-old Amanda Lea Love, Waldrup said. Then investigators learned Love had some of Velvet Burns’ possessions. Now Burns and Love are behind bars on second-degree murder charges as police hunt down others they say were brought to the home to commit the actual homicide, the lieutenant said. “Detectives revealed the suspect Jerry Burns conspired with suspect Love to murder the victim,” Waldrup said. “Jerry Burns offered $5,000 to Love to transport other suspects to the scene and commit the murder. According to Love, Burns promised...

The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) announced June 3 that it has concluded a settlement with Henry Ian Thor of Edmonton, a former registered representative at a financial services firm. Thor admitted to a breach of Alberta securities laws relating to a series of improper transactions, on behalf of a client, in shares of a publicly traded company, says the regulator. The settlement outlines that Thor “repeatedly entered bids on behalf of a client for shares late in the trading day that were higher than the last trade of the day, resulting in at least 25 high close transactions.” Thor admitted that he ought to have known that the high close purchases may result in, or contribute to, a false or misleading appearance of trading activity and an artificial price for a security, says the regulator. As part of the settlement, Thor paid the ASC $40,000 and agreed that for a period of four years, with limited exceptions, to refrain from trading in or purchasing any securities or derivatives. To learn more, consult the Settlement Agreement. Read the original article at insurance-journal.ca

Pre-built data management and analytics hub provides business-ready data for improved customer-centricity, digital transformation, and profitable growth New York, NY (May 29, 2019) – Information Builders, a leader in business intelligence (BI), analytics, and data management solutions, has announced the launch of Omni-Insurance, a data and analytics hub that provides property and casualty (P&C) insurers with business-ready data to help them transform from a product-driven to a customer-driven enterprise. P&C insurance companies are investing substantially in digital transformation across every aspect of their businesses, from policy and ratings to claims and billing. However, the applications they implement often focus only on improving operational efficiency, and the data siloes they create can hinder the companies’ ability to meet their digital transformation goals. Information Builders’ Omni-Insurance provides P&C insurers with a subject-oriented data repository that integrates data about insured parties, brokers, policies, underwriters, assets, and claims to provide a historical, 360-degree view of the business. This business-ready data helps P&C insurers change from being product-focused to being customer-focused, which in turn helps drive profitable growth through better segmentation, risk, and pricing – even in specialty markets. On top of this data hub, Omni-Insurance provides executives, underwriters, actuaries, claims, and finance teams with...