Industry
While provincial insurer Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) produced solid financial return for third-quarter 2002, it has expressed doubts about rising claims costs and the impact on the company’s future bottom-line. While net income for the nine month period to end November of last year rose to $23 million compared with the $11 million reported 12 […]
January 31, 2003
1 min read
Private passenger auto rates rose 9.2% in the fourth quarter of 2002, says the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), the government body that has final say in determining insurers’ rate increases. In the third quarter to end Sept, 2002, auto insurance rates climbed 8.3%, with the average price for cover by the end of […]
Once again, the Centre for the Study of Insurance Operation's (CSIO) intranet-based insurance portal is set for imminent release. As insurers and brokers hold their breath in the countdown to the project's first-phase April launch date, the industry remains charged with mixed feelings of "general optimism" as well as "uncertainty" based on the many unknown factors that could result in success or failure of the portal over the longer-term. The CSIO points out, however, that one of the biggest hurdles having thwarted past attempts at achieving an industry-wide online, real-time electronic processing solution has been overcome - by the time of the launch date the portal will be carrying a "critical mass" of insurance companies with strong commitment by brokers to sign on. Has the CSIO finally pulled the industry online technology rabbit from the hat?
11 min read
The emphasis in the world of information technology today is on value justification - how can IT directly improve an insurer's bottom-line? Nowhere is this more relevant for the insurance industry than in the development of new applications.
6 min read
Rating agency A.M. Best says that it will be closing down its Canadian office from June this year, with all activities transferred to the company’s U.S. head-office located in Oldwick, New Jersey. The objective is to streamline the Canadian rating and data reporting operations and to eliminate overlapping activities, A.M. Best says. The rating agency’s […]
U.S. insurers are questioning their ability to pay out on long-tail asbestos claims in the wake of two carriers taking large reserves for environmental claims. First, Travelers Property Casualty Pool took an after tax charge of US$1.3 billion to shore up its asbestos reserves by US$2.55 billion. This resulted in Travelers recording a loss of […]
2 min read
After a dismal year of investment performance from both the bond and equity markets, North American insurers should benefit in 2003 from a modest recovery in returns as the U.S. economy regains its health, says Robert Hartwig, chief economist at the Insurance Information Institute (III). Based on the early robust trading in stock markets in […]
Property and casualty customers of The Co-operators Group may be breathing a sigh of relief as it was revealed the theft of a hard drive containing some of the insurers’ files applies to life and pension customers only.At a news conference, The Co-operators president and CEO Katherine Bardswick noted explained that the hard drive disappeared […]
By Canadian Underwriter | January 31, 2003
The recent series of announcements regarding U.S. insurers’ reserve moves over asbestos could signal further downgrades in early 2003, says Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. In recent weeks, Travelers Property Casualty Corp. and ACE Ltd. have announced sizeable increases to their reserves, and The Hartford Financial Services Group just this week announced an asbestos reserve […]
By Canadian Underwriter | January 30, 2003
3 min read
Ontario’s insurance regulator is giving p&c insurers a year’s time to get their books in order for the new claims discounting practice. In a bulletin this week, the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) says that the reporting of claims discounting is optional for 2003 quarterly reports and will not become mandatory until 2003 yearend […]
By Canadian Underwriter | January 29, 2003
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