Industry

Catastrophe Response – The New Norm?

Between the industry’s digital disruption and now the practicing of social distancing related to COVID-19, the processes of a catastrophe response, both field and desk adjusting, are undergoing significant changes. Newly adopted changes have been beneficial to the industry by reducing costs and shortening cycle times. Some, however, have had a negative effect. The indemnity […]

May 7, 2020

3 min read

Industry

Your complete guide to preparing for a return to your offices

Business continuity plans should consider four main areas while preparing for the P&C industry workforce to return to work in an office setting, KPMG told Canadian Underwriter in an interview Friday. These four areas include: Where we are at now COVID-19 is the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. It has been a global pandemic […]

By David Gambrill | May 6, 2020

5 min read

Industry

The thinking behind the latest OMERS P&C insurer deal

By selling a good chunk of its runoff business to one of Canada’s largest pension plans, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. is allowing that business to buy discontinued Lloyd’s books while still allowing Fairfax to invest in its other insurers, CEO Prem Watsa suggests. During the first quarter, Toronto-based Fairfax closed the sale of 40% of […]

By Greg Meckbach | May 5, 2020

2 min read

Industry

Return to the office: Acknowledging workers’ fear

As the P&C industry plans to return to the office safely while remaining socially distant, perhaps the greatest challenge lies in accommodating anxious, digitally-empowered employees and clients who aren’t yet ready to return to traditional workplaces while the pandemic is ongoing. “Some people may be comfortable coming back to work, and others may not, and […]

By David Gambrill | May 5, 2020

4 min read

Opinion: The dangers around the pandemic of litigation

As we optimistically look forward to at least the beginning of the end of the COVID-19 virus, our industry should start to prepare for the “pandemic of litigation” that will undoubtedly follow. Our property and business interruption policies will be under attack, and so will our policyholders and their liability policies. One of the by-products […]

By Adam Malik | May 4, 2020

4 min read

Canada now in a recession: C.D. Howe council

TORONTO – The C.D. Howe Institute’s Business Cycle Council says Canada has entered a recession due to the economic devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In a report released Friday, the council said the economy peaked in February before the steps taken to slow the spread of the coronavirus brought the economy to a standstill. […]

2 min read

5 priorities for the P&C industry during the pandemic

Consumers are afraid. They are deeply concerned about their health, jobs, the economy, social cohesion, and sometimes their supply of toilet paper. The current situation presents a defining opportunity for the insurance industry to reinvent itself and emerge from the crisis, stronger, more relevant and better equipped for a digitized world. We have the benefit […]

3 min read

How will COVID-19 change cybersecurity?

The business email from your chief financial officer seems innocent enough: “Hey Larry, the client changed their bank account information. Can you send them money to their new bank account number?” Under ordinary circumstances — that is, before the novel coronavirus pandemic triggered an exodus of Canadian P&C industry workers from out of their offices […]

2 min read

The opportunity insurers are missing as COVID-19 cancels events

As large sporting and entertainment events get cancelled across Canada and the world as a result of COVID-19, the insurance implications affect not only event organizers themselves, but also promotional partners, licensees and businesses involved in merchandising. While event organizers may have contingency cover for the pandemic, insurance would not necessarily be in place for […]

By Jason Contant | April 24, 2020

3 min read