Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

MAPFRE Insurance and GEICO Rank Highest in Respective Segments: J.D. Power 2019 Insurance Digital Experience Study Costa Mesa, CA (May 23, 2019) – Property and casualty (P&C) insurance companies have shown marked improvement in many of their digital offerings—particularly mobile self-service functionality—but still have work to do to meet customers’ rising expectations. According to the J.D. Power 2019 Insurance Digital Experience StudySM, specific areas where insurers come up short when compared with mainstream digital consumer companies are ease of shopping and servicing their policies, household-level policy management and inconsistent use of social media. “Digital has become so important to the modern insurance company by delivering two essential characteristics consumers seek from carriers: ease and accessibility,” said Tom Super, Vice President Property and Casualty Insurance Intelligence at J.D. Power. “In many cases, mobile apps and insurer websites are the primary faces of these consumer brands. As consumer behavior continues to evolve, insurers must keep pace as part of their overall distribution strategy or run the risk of irrelevancy.” The study, now in its 8th year, evaluates digital consumer experiences among P&C insurance shoppers seeking quotes and existing customers conducting typical policy-servicing activities. The study examines the functional aspects of websites and...

UL got off to a slow start in the first quarter, Wink reports. Non-variable universal life sales for the first quarter were over $768.2 million, down 20.4% when compared to the previous quarter and down nearly 13% as compared to the same period last year, according to Wink’s Sales & Market Report. Non-variable universal life sales include both indexed UL and fixed UL product sales. Noteworthy highlights for total non-variable universal life sales in the first quarter included National Life Group taking over as the No. 1 company, overall, for non-variable universal life sales with a market share of 9.5%. Pacific Life’s Pacific Discovery Xelerator IUL was the No. 1 selling product for non-variable universal life sales, for all channels combined, for the seventh consecutive quarter. Indexed life sales for the first quarter were $491.7 million, down more than 20.3% when compared with the prior quarter, and up over 1.1% as compared to the same period last year. “The 2017 CSO requirements are hitting everyone hard.” explained Sheryl J. Moore, president and CEO of both Moore Market Intelligence and Wink, Inc. “If companies’ sales aren’t down because their field force isn’t up-to-date on their reprice for the new mortality tables,...

Members of a benefits and retirement advisor group are being encouraged to remain vigilant about the future of G19 following recent comments made by the head of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) that the disclosure guideline has been misinterpreted. In an interview with Insurance Journal in mid-May, CLHIA president Stephen Frank said G19 was “misunderstood” and “voluntary” for member companies to implement. His comments follow months of meetings between the CLHIA and advisors across the country who were caught by surprise by the guideline that would have some advisors – mostly those who are independent – disclose to their clients the various kinds of compensation they receive. Dave Patriarche, a member of the advisor group and founder of the Canadian Group Insurance Brokers, has said advisors are not opposed to disclosure, just to who is demanding it. In a recent email sent to group members, Patriarche said he has reached out to regulators and legislators with the group’s concerns about a trade association like CLHIA acting as a regulator “with a predictable result being harm to consumer[s] through reduced access to independent advisors (the only target of G19). “The receptiveness from these offices to our concerns has...

Project uses CSSI’s I-Company and adheres to IBAC D/X principles Regina, SK (May 27, 2019) — SGI CANADA and Custom Software Solutions Inc. (CSSI) are pleased to announce they are piloting integrated rating and real-time new business submission and issuance for personal lines property with brokers in Saskatchewan. The pilot connects CSSI’s broker management system (BMS), The Broker’s Workstation (TBW), rating service IntelliQuote (IQ) and SGI CANADA’s policy management system, transferring data between the systems in real time using CSSI’s I-Company carrier integration product. The solution improves quoting accuracy, allows for rate updates in real time, rate maintenance efficiencies and agility in responding to market conditions. Quotes can be submitted as new business, and if accepted, a new policy will be returned in real time including the eDocs policy document. The rating and new business policy issuance all happen without ever leaving the broker’s BMS. With the support of the pilot brokers, SGI CANADA and CSSI are in the process of fine-tuning the solution to optimize broker workflows. The pilot is the first phase in an overall project which includes quote, new business, policy change, re-instatement, cancellation and renewal transactions in real time not only with CSSI’s BMS, but also...

“Slow-burner” emerging risks including the public health implications of climate change Swiss Re Institute’s annual SONAR report features 15 emerging risk themes and 5 emerging trend spotlights the re/insurance industry needs to have on its radar Digital technology’s clash with legacy infrastructure, new risks emerging from the spread of 5G mobile networks, increasingly limited fiscal and monetary policy flexibility, and genetic testing and its implications for the insurance industry are challenges with potentially high impact. Other risks and trends presented in the report range from increased global vaccine hesitancy to geographically shifting markets Zurich (May 22, 2019) – Digital technology’s clash with legacy hardware, new risks emerging from the spread of 5G mobile networks, increasingly limited fiscal and monetary policy flexibility, and genetic testing and its effects on the insurance industry, as well as the effects of climate change on public health, are some of the key risks identified in this year’s Swiss Re Institute SONAR report. The publication is based on the SONAR process to pick up early signals of what lies beyond the horizon. The identified risks are relevant to life and non-life insurance areas, asset management as well as operations and insurance market conditions. They are presented...

Ransomware attacks skyrocket in Q1 2019 New York, NY (May 23, 2019) – Ransomware attacks skyrocketed in the first quarter of 2019, according to the Beazley Breach Response (BBR) Services team, which reports a 105% increase in the number of ransomware attack notifications against clients compared to Q1 2018. Not only has the frequency of attacks increased, but attackers are shifting focus, targeting larger organizations and demanding higher ransom payments. While ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) attacks remain commonplace and tend to hit unsuspecting small businesses, sophisticated attack groups associated with Ryuk and Bitpaymer ransomware variants are targeting larger organizations through phishing emails and tricking users into deploying banking Trojans. In the first quarter of 2019, the average ransomware demand reported to the BBR Services team was 93% higher than the 2018 average. And, according to incident response firm Coveware, the average price of ransoms in Q1 2019 increased by 89% as compared to Q4 2018. Bill Siegel, CEO of Coveware, attributes the increased number of attacks to two main factors. “First, anytime the average ransom demand goes up, it’s going to pull in more attack groups interested in making money. Second, the easy availability of exploit kits (such as banking Trojans) and...

Two brothers, Kamran Shahid and Imran Shahid, have been fined $345,000. They sold universal life insurance to newcomers with little financial knowledge. On May 2, Judge Mélanie Hébert of the Court of Québec, district of Montréal, ratified this penalty in connection with the penal proceedings instituted by Quebec financial sector regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). Kamran Shahid pleaded guilty to 11 counts of making a misrepresentation to an insurer or a client when pursuing activities governed by the Act respecting the distribution of financial products and services (the Distribution Act), as well as 10 counts of aiding in the illegal pursuit of activities as an insurance representative and one count of contravening the instructions of a client, said the AMF in a May 22 statement. He was fined a total of $155,000. For his part, Imran Shahid pleaded guilty to nine counts of making a misrepresentation to an insurer or a client when pursuing activities governed by the Distribution Act and nine counts of illegally pursuing activities as an insurance representative. He was fined a total of $190,000. In exchange for the guilty pleas, the AMF withdrew a total of 12 counts, including one count against the company 9322-5746 Québec...

Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. has announced the launch of the BetaPro Marijuana Companies 2x Daily Bull ETF (HMJU) and the BetaPro Marijuana Companies Inverse ETF (HMJI). Units of the ETFs began trading May 24 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. HMJU and HMJI provide leveraged and inverse exposure, respectively, to the North American MOC Marijuana Index. “Since we introduced HMMJ in 2017, thousands of Canadian investors have approached us and expressed their wish for leveraged and inverse exposure to the Canadian cannabis sector,” said Steve Hawkins, President and CEO at Horizons ETFs. “Until now, generating leveraged and inverse exposure to marijuana equities has been difficult and typically requires using a margin account and securities lending facilities. HMJU and HMJI streamline this process and allow investors to get leverage and inverse access through diversified ETF exposure to the sector, rather than taking on individual stock risk or having to using a margin account.” He adds that the new funds are higher-risk ETFs that will give Canadian marijuana equity investors the opportunity to potentially generate returns in both positive and negative markets in the Marijuana sector. The company underlined that as BetaPro funds, HMJU and HMJI are designed to provide daily investment...

Until his company generates a return on equity of 15%, Charles Brindamour says he is not satisfied with Intact Financial Corporation’s results. At the end of fourth-quarter 2018, Intact had not reached this goal. Brindamour said he was not satisfied. The same scenario recurred in first-quarter 2019: the insurer posted a return on equity of 12.8%. “We’re not satisfied with the 12% operating ROE. Not satisfied,” he told financial analysts in a conference call on May 8. Insurance Journal consulted the official transcript. Even if claims frequency rises, Brindamour confirms that his company has what it takes to generate a return on equity above 15%, quarter after quarter. This objective is especially ambitious given the industry ROE of below 3%. Despite unfavourable weather conditions for insurers, Brindamour points out that his company’s results are much more stable than those of other industry players. Data segmentation To outperform the industry, Intact is focusing on data segmentation, claims management and investment in distribution, Brindamour told the analysts. To bolster data segmentation, Intact has invested massively in artificial intelligence to identify new variables. In claims management, Intact uses digital technology and is boosting in-sourcing of its processes. Lastly, Brindamour describes investments in distribution as “far...

Action needed: Insurance Brokers Association of Saskatchewan Edmonton, AB (May 21, 2019) – Roughly half of Saskatchewan drivers are underinsured, carrying only the minimum $200,000 in third-party liability coverage that comes standard with basic licence plates, according to a new report by the Insurance Brokers Association of Saskatchewan (IBAS). The report, compiled by a 16-member advisory committee, warns this limit is generally insufficient, and outlines six recommendations to better protect consumers. Comparatively, next door in Manitoba, more than nine in 10 drivers have liability coverage of at least $1 million. “Saskatchewan’s public auto insurance system is unlike any in the country, and it is one of the most stable and affordable,” explains IBAS CEO Derek Lothian. “But the fact remains many drivers in the province don’t understand basic insurance is not enough to properly protect themselves from all accidents — especially those caused by them and their vehicles.” Failure to carry sufficient liability coverage could leave drivers on the hook to provide out-of-pocket compensation for property damage, injury or death to another person, or a victim’s loss or lost potential of income. IBAS strongly suggests drivers seek advice from a licensed broker and consider purchasing increased liability limits through extended...