Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

IBC is here to help Edmonton, AB (May 21, 2019) – As wildfires force a number of Albertans to evacuate their homes, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is reaching out with information and advice. “Our thoughts are with those whose lives have been disrupted by the wildfires. The top priority right now is the safety of those affected,” said Celyeste Power, Vice-President – Western, IBC. “The insurance industry is here to help. Anyone with questions about their home, car or business insurance can call their insurance representative or IBC.” Reach IBC’s Consumer Information Centre at 1-844-2ask-IBC (1-844-227-5422) or email [email protected]. What insurance covers Almost all home and business insurance policies cover fire damage. If residents have to leave their homes because of a mandatory evacuation order issued by civil authorities, most homeowner’s and tenant’s insurance policies will provide coverage for reasonable additional living expenses for a specified period of time. Your insurance representative is at the ready to clarify the details of your policy. The claims process If you have been affected by the wildfires, when safe to do so: List all damaged or destroyed items. Taking photos can be helpful. Call your insurance representative and/or company. If possible, assemble...

Spring showers brings more than just flowers Thornhill, ON (May 23, 2019) – CAA South Central Ontario (CAA SCO) is encouraging homeowners to help prevent water damage this spring by implementing some simple prevention strategies. “The highest risk homeowners face is water damage, yet many homeowners remain unprepared,” said Pierre Bourdeau, manager, P&C insurance marketing, CAA South Central Ontario. “While incidents can occur unexpectedly, common causes of water damage can often be spotted and prevented in advance.” Homeowners are encouraged to take a few moments this spring to assess their property. CAA SCO has created a 14-point checklist that homeowners can use to help make sure they are protected. “There are a few main causes of water damage that homeowners should keep their eyes out for,” continued Bourdeau. “Thawing, heavy rain and water swells are common in the spring, but homeowners should also be checking their roofs, downspouts and washing machines every year to avoid unexpected seeping and leaks.” CAA Insurance says that there are five main tools available to protect your home against water damage: Sump Pumps: A device that pumps water out of the lowest point in a basement. If water accumulates due to moisture, high water table...

Montreal, QC (May 21, 2019) – After months of research and development, the Montreal startup Allset has launched, providing home insurance exclusively for tenants. While financial institutions seem unable to adapt to young professionals’ needs, this “InsurTech” promises to be a game-changer, answering Millennials’ specific requirements. Misinformed Tenants Did you know that 37% of Quebec tenants do not have home insurance? According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), this is an unfortunate situation that puts their financial security at risk. Many tenants wrongly believe that the landlord’s insurance will provide compensation, or that their goods are not valuable enough to warrant insurance. Should tenants be held responsible for a disaster, they risk losing everything and being required to compensate their landlord. Allset positions itself as the first Canadian company to specialize in tenant insurance exclusively, and since its inception, has already seen its customer base grow tremendously. The startup uses a “matching” algorithm, comparing the tenant’s needs to over 10 insurance companies’ offers in real time, in order to find the best coverage. While large insurance companies are spread thinly over multiple categories and client profiles, Allset is the only Canadian company to own such technology. An Instant Service...

Intuitive trading platform revolutionizes how brokers can quote and bind cyber insurance Chicago, IL (May 23, 2019) – CFC, the specialist insurance provider and pioneer in emerging risk, today announced its new cyber insurance platform, enabling brokers to instantly access and ‘self-serve’ CFC’s market-leading cyber insurance products for SME businesses. “Online quote and bind systems have historically been cumbersome, simply shifting the workload from the insurer to the broker and lacking in terms of flexibility,” said Graeme Newman, Chief Innovation Officer at CFC. “CFC’s new platform truly revolutionizes the process, greatly increasing efficiency for all parties. By answering one simple question, brokers will be able to instantly access a set of bespoke quote options based on their pre-set preferences, create brand new quote variations using a set of intuitive sliders, and bind right away.” Developed by CFC’s in-house technology and innovation team and powered by 20 years of cyber insurance underwriting and cyber claims data, CFC’s cyber platform boasts an intuitive interface and cutting-edge trading capabilities including: Single-question quoting: Using a single piece of client data, brokers can generate a comprehensive cyber insurance quote tailored to their client’s unique risk profile, as well as coverage variations most commonly requested by...

Wealthsimple, a robo-advisor company, has raised one hundred million dollars in an investment round. Allianz X, the digital investment unit of the Germany-based Allianz Group, led the round. “We’re thrilled to welcome Allianz as an investor and partner in Wealthsimple, which is a major endorsement of our company and growth trajectory,” said Michael Katchen, co-founder and CEO, Wealthsimple. “We’re now backed by companies that represent trillions of assets globally. We believe their deep expertise, plus the product, the brand and the team we’ve built, are a winning combination to further our mission to make great financial products and advice accessible to everyone.” Wealthsimple says it will use the new capital to further develop its existing services and explore new product offerings. It also plans to evolve its B2B platform for advisors and institutions. “As a digitally-enabled financial services provider with a strong customer focus, Wealthsimple can complement Allianz’s business in a number of areas,” said Nazim Cetin, CEO of Allianz X. “This investment underlines our commitment to truly digital companies and is an excellent addition to our portfolio. We look forward to collaborating with Wealthsimple in our digital wealth management ecosystem.” Allianz X invests in digital companies around the world....

The two companies will work to optimize real-time pricing and time to market for insurance companies London, UK (May 23, 2019) – Willis Towers Watson today announced that Tia Technology is joining its global Radar Live Collaboration program, becoming the first vendor to do so. The program will allow Willis Towers Watson to develop an ecosystem of leading policy and claims administration vendors and support faster integrations with Radar Live. Radar Live, Willis Towers Watson’s price delivery software, enables a wide range of analytics outputs to be deployed in real time at the point of quote – from traditional rating structures to complex pricing algorithms with sophisticated embedded risk models, including machine learning. The software not only provides enhanced pricing flexibility and responsiveness to market developments, but also creates material operational efficiencies and reduces the risk of costly rate implementation errors. The Tia rating engine will continue to be a central part of the Tia Solutions, yet a number of customers deploy external rating engines, such as Willis Towers Watson’s Radar Live, to benefit from advanced analysis and pricing. According to the companies, integrating the two systems allows users to take full advantage of both Tia and Radar Live, for...

London, UK (May 22, 2019) – Concirrus, a leading InsurTech, has announced that it has entered into a strategic agreement with Willis Re, the reinsurance division of Willis Towers Watson, a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company. The companies have partnered to utilise the vast data available from the Internet of Things and transform Specialty re-insurance products. Concirrus CEO Andrew Yeoman comments: “It’s difficult to overstate the gravitas that Willis Re has in the market. We’re excited to start working alongside the team to apply behavioural analytics to the specialty reinsurance markets.” Willis Re will also join Concirrus’ Power20, a community of like-minded visionaries who are committed to working in collaboration to achieve long term success. Andrew continues: “This is all about ensuring that the building blocks are in place to help the market return to profitability and we’re looking forward to supporting our clients through this transformation journey.” Printhan Sothinathan, Chief of Strategy at Willis Re Specialty comments: “The evolution of the insurance space embracing the digital era has now reached the shores of specialty business lines. Our strategy is to lead this new digital era with like-minded (re)insurance partners. Together, we will develop methods and products that...

New York Daily News, The (NY) A Florida man has been sentenced to life behind bars for murdering his wife in 1993 and burying her in the backyard of their home — where his son would return and uncover her remains more than two decades later. A jury in April found Michael Haim guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his 23-year-old wife Bonnie Haim. The 52-year-old killer lived off of her life insurance policy for years until he was arrested in 2015, shortly after her remains were uncovered in a shallow grave behind the couple’s Jacksonville home, The Florida Times-Union reported. Haim was long a suspect in the disappearance of his wife and that speculation only intensified when their 3-year-old son, Aaron Fraser, made a startling comment to law enforcement. “Daddy hurt mommy,” he told a child investigator more than 20 years ago. When Fraser returned to his boyhood home in 2014 to excavate parts of the yard, he discovered his mother’s skull — prompting law enforcement to reopen the investigation that would ultimately culminate in his father’s arrest. “I accidentally busted the bag and saw something I describe as a coconut. I picked up the coconut object...

Morningstar Inc. has introduced a new global suite of bond indexes that represent all major fixed-income markets and asset classes. The independent investment research company says the new indexes are designed to serve as portfolio benchmarks and building blocks for portfolio construction. “Fixed income plays an essential role in helping investors achieve their financial goals,” said Sanjay Arya, head of Indexes at Morningstar. “Understanding the underlying market is key to improving investment outcomes, and it is our belief that the democratization of information levels the playing field for everyone across the investment ecosystem. We have constructed a comprehensive global family of bond indexes that represent discrete asset class exposures, without any gaps or overlap.” Morningstar says the launch of a new index suite is part of the company’s broader investment in the fixed-income space. To help investors make more meaningful comparisons between mutual funds in the U.S., the company recently updated its fixed-income categories, forming intermediate core bond and intermediate core-plus bond categories. Additionally, to enable more accurate, consistent and comparable analysis, Morningstar is transitioning from manager-reported to calculated fixed-income data, effective July 31, 2019 for portfolios dated as of June 30, 2019. Select countries that offer calculated data today,...

EIS Group’s digital experience platform provides industry’s largest open core API portfolio to insurance app developers San Francisco, CA (May 22, 2019) – EIS Group, a leading provider of core insurance systems, is pleased to announce that a major milestone in the delivery of digital capabilities to insurers has been reached with the release of 1,100 open APIs in the company’s digital experience platform—EIS DXP™—for omnichannel interaction and digital solution management. The open core API portfolio is the industry’s largest and a key component of the open architecture of EIS DXP which enables insurers to create innovative experiences and quickly incorporate new data and InsurTech capabilities into their products, services and operations. The availability of over 1,100 REST APIs to app developers makes it easier for insurers to create secure, persona-based digital experiences to all participants in rapidly growing B2C and B2B insurance ecosystems. The APIs can be combined within EIS DXP to create apps for any part of the unique journey of any ecosystem participant, from consumer, customer, agent and broker to claims adjuster, CSR, risk inspector, underwriter and more. Multiple pre-built web and mobile apps are already available in EIS DXP for re-use and adaption to specific insurer...