Commercial clients who allow off-road vehicles to be driven on their property could have insurance coverage gaps, a commercial lawyer warns. In Ontario, off-road vehicles are generally required to have liability insurance, but some types of machinery – such as golf carts and self-propelled farming vehicles – are exempt. So vehicle owners who get sued […]
By Greg Meckbach | November 1, 2018
3 min read
If cannabis legalization results in more stoned drivers, auto insurance rates could rise, a comparison shopping provider suggests. Some Criminal Code offences for marijuana possession were taken off the books effective Oct. 17. This means it is no longer a criminal offence to possess fewer than 30 grams of marijuana for non-medicinal use. “If legalization […]
By Greg Meckbach | October 30, 2018
2 min read
The major problems of the Ontario auto insurance product won’t be solved by changing the territorial rating system, a major insurer warns. Two private member’s bills recently tabled at Queen’s Park “have the potential to challenge the sustainability of the product and create subsidization of urban areas by rural areas,” Co-operators General Insurance Company said […]
By Greg Meckbach | October 29, 2018
3 min read
New research is digging in to why fracking causes earthquakes in some areas but not in others. A paper published Monday in Geophysical Research Letters suggests the likelihood of an artificial earthquake is heavily influenced by how stable the ground was before the energy industry showed up. “Some places appear to be particularly responsive to […]
By Jason Contant | October 29, 2018
3 min read
Large corporate clients often face unexpected tax bills in the millions – and companies are looking for insurers willing to share the risk. Aon Canada has meetings scheduled with several Canadian law firms to brief them on how tax insurance works, said Jason Stone, vice president of transaction solutions at Aon Canada. “The interest in […]
By Greg Meckbach | October 25, 2018
2 min read
A recent prank by an anonymous street artist shows that collectibles – which require special insurance – can become more valuable if they are damaged. “Normally when a piece of art is damaged, it would drop in value,” Kelly Juhasz, principal of Toronto-based Fine Art Appraisal, said in an interview. This was not the case, […]
By Greg Meckbach | October 24, 2018
2 min read
OTTAWA – The Bank of Canada raised its trend-setting interest rate Wednesday and sent signals that future hikes could be upon Canadians sooner than previously expected. With a big source of trade uncertainty finally out of the way, the central bank delivered a quarter-point rate increase for the fifth time since the summer of 2017. […]
By Jason Contant | October 24, 2018
4 min read
After much hand-wringing about the impact of a postal strike on the insurance industry, rotating strikes by Canada Post workers have seemed to have had little impact on major insurers. Aviva Canada told Canadian Underwriter Tuesday the immediate impact of the rotating strike action is that customers could see a delay of up to two […]
By Jason Contant | October 23, 2018
4 min read
A recent experiment in Montreal shows that people who smoked a small fraction of a joint were much riskier drivers than if they drove sober, the Canadian Automobile Association suggests. CAA funded a study at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre in which occasional users of cannabis did a series of practical tests using both a […]
By Greg Meckbach | October 22, 2018
3 min read
Three relatively strong earthquakes were recorded Sunday night in the Pacific Ocean off Vancouver Island. The U.S. Geological Survey reported a 6.6 magnitude quake about 260 kilometres west of Tofino, followed by a 6.8 tremor and then a third measuring 6.5. Survey geophysicist Zachary Reeves said all three quakes occurred in the same general area […]
By Jason Contant | October 22, 2018
2 min read