Industry
After years of disappointing and frustrating efforts to achieve a workable online, real-time technology platform between Canadian insurers and independent brokers, the property and casualty insurance industry's joint company/broker technology development body -- the Centre for Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO) -- has set an imminent launch date for its Internet-based "intranet" portal service that is expected to form the foundation for the next generation of online company-to-service-provider communications where past efforts such as Synchron have failed. But, while considerable effort has been made to muster insurer and broker support for this latest stab at grasping the "holy grail" of real-time online communications, the enthusiastic attitude of companies is belayed by their seemingly unprepared position for integrating their legacy-based systems with the CSIO portal as the launch date draws dangerously close. Just as importantly, most insurers admit to being unclear on the costs or potential savings expected from their participation through the portal. Are insurers and brokers really ready for the next evolutionary step into online technology?
January 31, 2002
9 min read
The story of online insurance has been one of caution and, ultimately, missed opportunities in the past. But are things really changing? Are insurers starting to catch up to banks and other providers of financial services in the online realm? The answer, for the most part, is still "no". So where does the industry go from here?
6 min read
With the departure of American Re CEO Edward J. Noonan, John Phelan (pictured) is set to take over the top spot at Munich Re’s U.S. subsidiary, effective March 31. Phelan has been with Munich Re of Canada (MROC) for almost 30 years, and has been the company’s president as well as president of Temple Insurance […]
1 min read
Manitoba’s public insurer is feeling the financial crunch, with poor investment returns and higher than expected claims costs leading to an almost 85% drop in income for the first three quarters of 2001. For the nine months ending November 30, 2001, Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) reports income dropped to $11.6 million, down from $67.1 million […]
Although the 2001 yearend results for both the Canadian and U.S. property and casualty insurance industries are expected to reflect one of the worst financial years on record, there is an excited buzz among the ranks of company CEOs that this is will be a year of renewed prosperity. Indeed, the industry’s business pricing cycle […]
4 min read
On the cusp of the launch of a broker-insurer Internet portal, the eyes of the industry are on Klaas Westera, president of the Centre for the Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO). Brought on board to rejuvenate the forum between insurers and brokers, Westera has put in motion the development of the portal, a long sought after but never yet achieved innovation. Blending technology with a passion for the broker distribution channel, Westera's plans are putting the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry on the map.
The struggle of insurers to compete in a fragmented marketplace was up for discussion at the CARSTAR Canada “Appreciation Day” recently in Burlington, Ontario. “It’s hard to get a share point, it’s hard to keep it,” says Jim Letwin of JANKelly Marketing. Speaking to a crowd of insurance and other business partners to the collision […]
2 min read
In response to criticisms for years of poor financial performance, the world’s oldest insurance market Lloyd’s of London has released a series of proposed structural changes to “modernize” the system. Among the changes put forward to the Council of Lloyd’s for the 300-year-old market is the end of unlimited liability for “names”, meaning individual investors […]
Dominion of Canada General Insurance Co. has been successful in its bid to have a discount approved by Ontario’s insurance regulator for teen drivers in the “I Promise” program. Domion CEO George Cooke, a staunch supporter of the program, had applied to the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) for permission to offer a discount […]
The current recession is shaping up to be a mild one, causing one analyst to revise “up” her outlook for the Canadian economy in 2002. Speaking to the Canadian Insurance Accountants Association recently in Toronto, global economic strategist Sherry Cooper predicted that despite the “knee-jerk reaction” of the markets to September 11 and the “lingering […]
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