What’s New: In Brief (July 06, 2007)

It is absolutely vital that insurers and broker management system vendors continue to move forward with the adoption and implementation of CSIO Standards,” according to a statement released by the Centre for the Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO).The release announced a consensus reached among representatives of insurers, brokers and vendor system companies participating in the CSIO’s 5th annual focus group.In addition, CSIO added in its release, all agreed that the immediate priority be on small business package policies based on the adoption and use of the CSIO Commercial Insurance Application Package Policy Form and Package Policy Supplement.CSIO noted the standards are building blocks for single entry data capture in broker offices as well as “real time” transfer of data between brokers and their insurer partners. Adoption and implementation of the XML Standards would be a quantum leap forward in the competitive advantage of the broker distribution channel, CSIO announced.

FSCO, in collaboration with the CCIR, is launching an online questionnaire to assess the practices of agents in managing conflicts of interest in the marketplace.The 25-question survey is designed to be completed in 15 minutes. It relates to three general principles for managing actual or potential conflicts of interest, which are: the priority of a clients interest; disclosure of conflicts and potential conflicts of interest; and product suitability.Completion of the questionnaire is mandatory, as per Section 31 of the Ontario Insurance Act, Duty to Furnish Information. Questionnaire recipients have been selected by means of a random sample.The questionnaire is required to be completed by July 27, 2007. While the questionnaire is not a compliance audit, FSCO will perform a follow-up to verify a sample of questionnaire responses, FSCO said in a letter sent to insurance agents and brokers.The CCIR has selected Survey Monkey, a tool for Web-based information gathering, as the delivery method for the questionnaire.