VANCOUVER – As British Columbia heads into its first warm spell of the year, forecasters are warning the heat could raise avalanche and flood risks, while the danger of wildfires has already nudged up to a “moderate” rating in some parts of the province. The River Forecast Centre website says temperatures are expected to be […]
By Jason Contant | April 27, 2023
1 min read
To balance out loss ratios, cyber insurers have been rolling out new security requirements and best practices for policyholders, and one managing general agent (MGA) says the next logical step for consumer protection is encrypted cyber policies. If a cybercriminal accessed an insured’s system and noticed the company had a cyber policy that covered more […]
By Alyssa DiSabatino | April 26, 2023
2 min read
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated show 83% would be motivated to stop distracted driving behaviours if offered an insurance discount, and has updated Paul Stone’s title. Brokers can help put a stop to distracted driving by making Canadians aware of telematics programs that reward drivers for putting down their mobile devices, an […]
By David Gambrill | April 26, 2023
3 min read
The Canadian property and casualty insurance industry’s return on equity (ROE) last year dropped a few percentage points from the 17% to 18% level it was in 2021, but it’s still above the long-run average of 10.1%, a new industry report said. Overall, Canada’s P&C insurance industry reported an ROE of 14% in 2022, said […]
By Jason Contant | April 26, 2023
3 min read
Brokers placing directors and officers (D&O) insurance coverage should recognize the growing importance of how private company clients manage both environmental, social and governance (ESG) and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) concerns. Those issues are of increasing concern to the clients themselves, and the insurers providing D&O coverage. Regardless of a client company’s size or […]
By Phil | April 25, 2023
2 min read
MONTREAL – Quebec’s electric utility says thousands are without power in the province after a problem at the Churchill Falls generating station in Labrador. A Hydro-Quebec spokesman says the station experienced a sudden interruption today, which triggered protection mechanisms that responded by cutting power, adding the utility is investigating what happened. Around noon, the provincially-owned […]
By Jason Contant | April 25, 2023
1 min read
Although pricing caught most people’s attention during the January reinsurance renewal season, the terms and conditions were restricted, contributing to why Canada’s primary insurers are retaining more risk for high-frequency secondary perils. “Over the last number of years, there’s been some general upwards pressure on Cat excess-of-loss retentions,” Peter Askew, president and CEO of Canada […]
By David Gambrill | April 24, 2023
3 min read
New federal research suggests greenhouse gas emissions from the Alberta oilsands may be significantly underestimated, adding to a growing pile of studies that say our understanding of what is going into the atmosphere is incomplete. In a paper published last week in a prominent U.S. science journal, Environment and Climate Change Canada researchers used new […]
By Jason Contant | April 24, 2023
3 min read
Now that Canada has introduced a commitment to a backstop for high-risk flood insurance, the next item for change should be an government earthquake backstop, a panellist noted at the the Insurance Institute of Canada’s Symposium in Toronto Wednesday. Arguably, quake probably should have come first, suggested Maz Moini, co-founder and managing partner at NovaRisk […]
By Alyssa DiSabatino | April 21, 2023
3 min read
A Quebec home insurer successfully defended a flood exclusion to its policy’s water damage endorsement, on the basis that the insurer would not cover water damage that “occurs when a flood reaches the surface of the ground on the premises.” Quebec’s Superior Court upheld the language of The Personal’s flood exclusion in a claim made […]
By David Gambrill | April 21, 2023
4 min read