Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Many Canadians who are keeping track of the rising interest rates may be worried about what it means for their mortgage and future renewals. The most recent Mortgage Consumer Survey from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed most mortgage renewers have a fixed-interest, five-year renewal term with an 11 to 20 year amortization period, leaving people with more than enough time to wonder, “Is it worth it to renew my term early?” If rates continue to rise, and most forecasters believe they will, you may want to look into locking in at lower interest rate before it’s too late, but there are a number of factors to consider before re-signing on the dotted line. Save money by renewing your mortgage early Considering the current lending environment, the opportunity to renew early and tap into lower rates before they rise any further seems appealing. There were three interest rate hikes in 2018 and predictions are that there will be another two in 2019. If you renew with the same financial institution, you may be able to break your old contract without penalty and start making payments at a new rate – predictably lower than what you would pay come your next...

Toronto, ON (Jan. 31, 2019) – Boxx Insurance Inc., a Toronto-based insurance provider, today announced a strategic initiative to help businesses in the transportation and logistics industry stay ahead of cyber threats with its flagship Cyberboxx™ solution. This initiative is part of broader investments to create differentiated, industry-focused, and cost-effective cybersecurity and cyber insurance solutions… Read more » The post Boxx Insurance Inc. accelerates growth with Cyberboxx™ solution for the transportation and logistics industry appeared first on Insurance-Canada.ca.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced legislation today to establish a progressive estate tax on the fortunes of the top 0.2 percent of Americans and significantly increase rates on billionaires. Sanders said his legislation, the For the 99.8% Act, would raise $2.2 trillion from the nation’s 588 billionaires. The proposal comes two days after Senate Republican leadership proposed a bill to repeal the estate tax. “At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, when the three richest Americans own more wealth than 160 million Americans, it is literally beyond belief that the Republican leadership wants to provide hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the top 0.2 percent,” Sanders said. “Our bill does what the American people want by substantially increasing the estate tax on the wealthiest families in this country and dramatically reducing wealth inequality.” Sanders’ bill would only apply to the wealthiest 0.2 percent of Americans. It would establish a 45 percent tax on the value of an estate between $3.5 million and $10 million; a 50 percent tax on the value of an estate between $10 million and $50 million; a 55 percent tax on the value of an estate in excess of $50 million;...

The deadline for Genworth Financial Inc.’s proposed $2.7 billion acquisition by a China-based investment company is being delayed yet again as the companies continue to seek regulatory approvals for the deal. Henrico County-based Genworth and China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co. Ltd. said late Wednesday that they have agreed to extend the deadline for the merger from Jan. 31 to March 15. The acquisition, which was first announced in October 2016, received the final clearances needed from state insurance agencies in the United States earlier this month. The deal still needs to be approved by regulators in Canada and by the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. In addition, Oceanwide must get clearance from regulators in China for currency conversion and the transfer of funds. The top executives for both companies said in statements Thursday that they remain committed to the deal. jblackwell@timesdispatch.com(804) 775-8123 The post Deadline Extended Again For Genworth Sale To Firm Based In China appeared first on InsuranceNewsNet.

The projection of 1% to 2% growth for the sector underestimates its potential, according to one analysis

Just 26 percent of the total coverage needed for life insurance is currently met, according to a new report, resulting in $70 billion in lost premiums for the industry. The report found that insurance companies are missing out on an average of $785 in annual life insurance premium payments per person who requires insurance coverage in the U.S. Atidot, a technology company providing AI, big data, and predictive analytics tools to life insurers, released its report today. “Policyholders are generally unaware that they are underinsured, and the onus must be on the insurance industry to remedy that,” said Dror Katzav, CEO of Atidot. New solutions enable insurers to harness data efficiently and know when to contact clients to update their coverage and prevent lapses. The key is “touchpoints” at crucial times in a policyholder’s life, Katzav told InsuranceNewsNet. “Often people don’t even realize that there is a gap because they purchased something,” he explained. “But your life is not going to be the same five years later, or 20 years later.” State-By-State Numbers The report analyzes the levels of insurance on a state-by-state basis, uncovering the rate of under-insurance for individual states and the U.S. as a whole. West Virginia...

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) has integrated RGA’s AURA® underwriting rules engine into the Accenture Life Insurance and Annuity Platform (ALIP), making ALIP the first such platform to provide an out-of-the-box option. As a result, carriers can implement ALIP faster and leverage its advanced underwriting capabilities more quickly. The integration of AURA with ALIP can also help insurers boost business and underwriting profitability by enabling them to process new business faster while meeting the industry’s increasingly ambitious service-level agreements and cost targets. “Until now, underwriting time and capacity constraints have impeded the progress of fully underwritten and simplified-issue life insurance products,” said Patti Treis, senior vice president and general manager, AURA Technologies. “ALIP and AURA together provide a tremendous opportunity for insurers to significantly reduce the time to issuance and cost per policy.” With the integration of AURA, ALIP now provides more options for insurers to accelerate underwriting automation, reduce manual intervention and increase underwriting speed. This powerful combination provides greater synergy between industry-standard rules (AURA) and the orchestration to process those rules (ALIP). Both systems apply intelligent automation to free underwriters from routine tasks to apply their expertise on more-complex issues. “Seamless third-party integration is necessary for carriers to maintain a competitive...

A new report finds that advocates’ argument for a universal pharmacare program is based on an exaggerated claim

Critics say the guidance released in December is outdated and was not written by the right specialists

“We wanted to offer a service that added an emotional benefit above and beyond the insurance value. We wanted to revolutionize the way insurance companies provide value to their customers.” — ivari Senior Vice President and Chief Distribution Officer, Jeffrey Fox