Ontario’s Superior Court has approved a $4.8-million settlement in a class action lawsuit related to the denial of travel insurance claims by TD Home and Auto Insurance for cancelled flights during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, airlines were cancelling flights due to public health restrictions to prevent the spread of […]
By David Gambrill | February 23, 2023
2 min read
TORONTO – Hydro One says tens of thousands of its customers in southwestern Ontario lost power after Wednesday’s winter storm and some might have to wait until Friday night for it to be restored. The utility says more than 33,000 customers are without power as of this afternoon. Tiziana Baccega-Rosa, a spokesperson for Hydro One, […]
By Jason Contant | February 23, 2023
2 min read
COVID-19 accelerated development of process efficiencies for insurance adjusters. Pre-pandemic, data-gathering and communications systems began shifting many claims to desk teams, creating efficiencies for adjusters by reserving site visits for complex cases. “What COVID did was expedite some of that work,” said Tracy Riley, chief digital officer at Wawanesa Mutual Insurance. Plus, adjusters didn’t fully […]
By Phil | February 23, 2023
3 min read
VICTORIA – Premier David Eby says he’s introducing more supports to better prepare British Columbia communities for natural disasters related to climate change before they happen. “The last few years have taught us a hard lesson about the impacts of climate change,” Eby said Tuesday, citing Interior wildfires, Fraser Valley floods, highway slides, bridge collapses […]
By Jason Contant | February 22, 2023
2 min read
New research using advanced technology suggests heavy oil facilities in Alberta and Saskatchewan are releasing almost four times the amount of a powerful greenhouse gas than they report to government. The research, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, pioneers new methods of measuring methane emissions that question current industry practice, said author Matthew […]
By Jason Contant | February 21, 2023
3 min read
Controls and underwriting actions that cyber insurers took over the course of 2020 and 2021 started paying off last year, a cybersecurity expert told Canadian Underwriter recently. “I think the cyber insurance industry in general had a much better year in 2022 than they had in some prior years,” said Tim Zeilman, Hartford Steam Boiler’s […]
By Jason Contant | February 21, 2023
3 min read
Police chose not to apply federal Emergencies Act measures to suspend the auto insurance policies of any Freedom Convoy protest participants last year, according to the Report of the Public Inquiry into the 2022 Public Order Emergency. “The duty to cease dealings [with clients involved in the Freedom Convoy protests] under the [Emergencies Act] was […]
By David Gambrill | February 21, 2023
3 min read
One aim of autonomous driving technology is to take the human element out of the driving ecosystem with an eye toward preventing collisions. But right now, autonomous driving technology can’t guarantee it will detect and react to road hazards earlier than a human driver. Worse, a by-product of these technologies is that they can reduce […]
By Phil | February 17, 2023
4 min read
HALIFAX – Residents of a rural Cape Breton community that has lost power during cold and windy weather are looking for compensation from the utility – and a grid designed for the changing climate. Parker Donham, a resident of Boularderie Island, says he and other residents who suffered property damage due to power failures are […]
By Jason Contant | February 17, 2023
3 min read
A multiple-vehicle owner who failed to add a motorcycle to his insurance within a set time period is precluded from receiving benefits following an accident, said a Feb. 6 decision by Ontario’s Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) adjudicator Stephanie Kepman. On Jun. 8, 2020, applicant Riley Sexsmith was struck by another vehicle while riding a 2003 […]
By Phil | February 16, 2023
3 min read