What’s New: In Brief (October 10, 2007)

Insurance brokers have launched a new keeping you covered brand and advertising campaign in response to what the Insurance Brokers Association of New Brunswick (IBANB) refers to as the clutter created by telemarketers and Internet sales of home and auto insurance.IBANB chair Danny Harrigan explained the need to promote the advisory role of brokers in a recent press release. Some consumers are unknowingly giving up advice and support in response to smooth out-of-province marketing, he says in the release. As a result, we are seeing the start of insurance nightmares when there is a loss.Harrigan added: Call centres and telemarketers are turning into the Legal Will Kit version of insurance. You cant replace a broker with a call centre any more than you can replace a lawyer with a will kit. IBANB conducted a survey of its broker members this summer, showing that most (80%) of brokers and more than half (60%) of their staff have more than 15 years experience.New Brunswick has 800 brokers spread throughout the province, the IBANB notes. Seventy per cent of insurance purchased in the province is handled by one of those brokers.

The Lew Dunn Memorial Foundation raised more than Cdn$283,000 for colorectal cancer at its eighth annual Lew Dunn Charity Golf Classic fundraiser. The fundraiser is an annual event hosted by the Lew Dunn Memorial Foundation and Aviva Canada in honour of the late Lew Dunn, former president and CEO of Aviva Canada, who passed away from colorectal cancer in 1999. The foundation raises funds to provide for surgical scholarships in colon cancer. Over the past eight years, the Lew Dunn Charity Golf Classic has helped to raise more than Cdn$1.5 million to aid in the fight against colon cancer.