Claims

How the UK pandemic business interruption test case could play out

The industry will likely learn next month the outcome of a business interruption coverage test case arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the verdict is likely to be appealed, a Bermuda insurance CEO suggests. The British Financial Conduct Authority filed this past June a claim with the High Court of England and Wales to resolve […]

By Greg Meckbach | August 13, 2020

4 min read

Claims

Cleaning Up

Tens of thousands of claims, for a grand total of $1.2 billion in insured damaged, have been filed from the June 13 hail storm that hit the Calgary area

August 13, 2020

3 min read

Claims

Three reasons why the hard market may drag on for years

Commercial clients are likely to see big price hikes at least through 2021 and the economic impact of COVID-19 is partly to blame, a Bermuda insurance executive suggests. “We saw double-digit rate increases in our Canadian specialty business,” Albert Benmichol, CEO of Axis Capital Holdings Limited, said during a recent earnings call. Hamilton, Bermuda-based Axis has […]

By Greg Meckbach | August 12, 2020

2 min read

Claims

Forest fire continues to grow near town in northwestern Ontario

RED LAKE, Ont. – Residents of Red Lake, Ont., continue to flee the community as a nearby wildfire continues to grow. A spokesman for provincial Ministry of the Solicitor General says aircraft are available to help with evacuations, and about 200 more people are expected to leave the town of approximately 4,000 today. Greg Flood […]

By Jason Contant | August 12, 2020

1 min read

Why this home insurer has a duty to defend a road rage claim

Pembridge Insurance Company of Canada has a duty to defend an insured who has liability coverage under a home insurance policy in a case in which the insured got out of his car and allegedly threatened another driver in a road rage incident. By rejecting an appeal from the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Supreme […]

4 min read

The impact of Calgary’s hailstorm on North American H1 storm losses

Canada’s costliest-ever hailstorm contributed to the largest insured losses in North America since the first half of 2011, according to preliminary natural catastrophe estimates from Swiss Re. The hailstorm that struck Calgary in June cost the industry $1.2 billion based on more than 70,000 claims. Insured losses from spring flooding in Fort McMurray was also […]

By Jason Contant | August 11, 2020

2 min read

This insurer is allowing some COVID-19 support measures to expire

The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) announced Friday that three of the temporary measures it introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are set to expire in the coming weeks. The B.C. Utilities Commission had approved ICBC implementing the following measures starting Apr. 23 and ending Aug. 20: Phase 3 of B.C.’s Restart Plan […]

By Jason Contant | August 10, 2020

2 min read

Property claim cycle times are on the rise: Xactware data

While everyone in the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry knows that quick claims response times are critical to consumer satisfaction, cycle times for property claims in Canada increased overall between 2018 and 2019, according to the latest property damage statistics cited in a recent report by Xactware. The average time to contact policyholders increased […]

2 min read

As provincial economies re-open, insurers eye their auto claims frequencies

As if it weren’t enough with all of the recent news reports about natural catastrophe losses in Alberta, and claims against insurers for business interruption losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is another, more familiar risk looming on the horizon for insurers — auto insurance losses. As employees start to migrate back to the […]

2 min read