MONTREAL – Canadian shippers are starting to feel the strain of attacks on cargo vessels in the Red Sea, as container rates rise and boats are late to arrive. Port data shows that two-thirds of the 43 ships slated to berth at the Port of Halifax in the second half of this month are now […]
By Jason Contant | January 15, 2024
2 min read
For all the smoke, fire and flood that happened across Canada this year, damage to property in Alberta alone exceeded $330 million, according to estimates from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ). That’s nearly 10% of all insured losses across Canada, based on the 2023 national estimate of $3.1 billion in insured damages. Most […]
By Alyssa DiSabatino | January 12, 2024
2 min read
Insurers looking to reduce home restoration claims costs should find ways to avoid tearing out walls, flooring, rugs, trim and other major construction components. One insurer’s launched a program to do just that. The approach will lead to a “1% reduction in our loss ratio for property,” said Vance Somerton, director of claims operations, property […]
By Phil | January 12, 2024
3 min read
A “dangerous” sporting play causing injury to another player — even if the move was permitted within the rules of play — can give rise to sports negligence liability, the B.C. Court of Appeal has affirmed. The decision points to a difference between the provinces about the standard required to find an aggressive player liable […]
By David Gambrill | January 11, 2024
4 min read
The devastation of British Columbia’s Okanagan Mountain Park wildfire in 2003 was unlike anything Janna Smart had adjusted before. “It was full of raw emotion, chaos, destruction, and limited experience in handling a wildfire in a densely populated area. It was all too surreal,” said the branch manager and senior adjuster for ClaimsPro in Penticton, […]
By Phil | January 11, 2024
4 min read
Insurers will need to be informed about their role in the national flood insurance program by Spring 2024 if it’s to be operational before the next federal election, an Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) executive tells Canadian Underwriter. The federal government committed $31.7 million toward the national flood insurance program in its 2023 budget […]
By Alyssa DiSabatino | January 10, 2024
3 min read
Alberta’s Court of the King’s Bench has ordered the Insurance Council of Alberta’s appeal panel to re-consider a matter involving allegations that a broker issued temporary auto insurance pink slips for which there was no insurance coverage. Retired broker Anthony Bentley has at all times denied the council’s allegations, which arose from a complaint made […]
By David Gambrill | January 10, 2024
3 min read
If an auto insurer wants to prove an insured “intentionally” failed to inform it of a move, the insurer should be prepared to provide detailed logs, transcripts or recordings of the conversations the claimant had with the broker, Ontario’s Licence Appeal Tribunal has ruled. “I do not find that [Intact’s] cursory summary of telephone calls […]
By David Gambrill | January 9, 2024
3 min read
Another year, another $3 billion in NatCat insurance claims payouts. Canada’s property and casualty insurance industry paid out more than $3.1 billion last year in claims related to natural catastrophes, based on the latest numbers from Catastrophe and Indices Quantification Inc. (CatIQ). Wildfire claims in Canada made up just shy of $1 billion of those […]
By David Gambrill | January 8, 2024
3 min read
Alberta Wildfire says it saw an average number of wildfires last year, but the area burned across the province set a record. The province saw a total of 1,088 wildfires that burned about 22,000 square kilometres from March 1 to Oct. 31. The five-year average for area burned is 2,262 square kilometres. Melissa Story, community […]
By Jason Contant | January 5, 2024
3 min read