What’s New: In Brief (December 05, 2007)

The Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) has launched a new feature of its online function, ‘Locate a Broker,’ which now allows consumers to search for a broker representing a specific insurance company.”Using a broker is all about having access to choice, and by expanding the search criteria on our web site, we are inviting consumers to find a local broker with a relationship and the expertise of dealing with an insurance company that they were familiar with,” IBAO operations manager Paul Taylor said in a press release.The Locate a Broker function is available at www.ibao.com. It enables consumers to find a broker through various search criteria such as location, keyword, type of insurance needed, broker name, and now, by insurance company represented.”Sometimes consumers prefer to use a certain insurance company because they’ve been satisfied with its products,” IBAO CEO Randy Carroll said in a press release. “For example, they move to a different city and need help finding out which local broker offers that company’s products. The new Locate a Broker function will give them access to that information within seconds.”

Snowstorms battered Atlantic Canada Dec. 4, leaving tens of thousands of people without power and shutting down airports, roads, schools and many other services.CanWest News Services interviewed one of 64 insurance agents that had been trapped in St. John’s for several days after flights across the four provinces were delayed or cancelled.”The unfortunate thing is we have 80,000 customers and nobody at work,” the insurance agent told CanWest.The storms are moving off, but very slowly, according to Environment Canada. In its wake, the snow left 21,000 residents without power in New Brunswick, 8,800 without power in Newfoundland, 8,500 without power in Prince Edward Island and 8,000 in the dark in Nova Scotia.