Risk

New P&C database could increase cat bond, ILW activity in Canada

Catastrophe Indices & Quantification Inc. (CatIQ) has launched Canada’s first ever insurance Industry Exposure Database (IED), developed with support from the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry and in partnership with Zurich-based PERILS AG. The IED contains 2016 and 2017 year-end estimates of Canadian industry property sums insured by: “The unprecedented level of detail available […]

By David Gambrill | June 27, 2018

2 min read

Risk

Economical makes history by submitting demutualization proposal to Ottawa

Economical Insurance has made history as the first property and casualty insurer in Canada to officially ask the federal government for permission to demutualize. The Waterloo, Ont.-based carrier announced Tuesday it has submitted a proposal to the country’s financial regulator to convert from its current status (collective ownership by a small minority of policyholders) to […]

By Greg Meckbach | June 27, 2018

3 min read

Risk

Canadian P&C consolidation will leave only “a few tables left”: broker

Look for consolidation to continue within the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry, senior industry executives predicted at a recent conference. Also, expect insurers to take on a greater role in distributing the products. Speaking about consolidation, Adam Mitchell, the principal of Whitby, Ont.-based Mitchell & Whale Insurance Brokers Ltd., likened the P&C industry right […]

By Greg Meckbach | June 25, 2018

3 min read

Risk

New CEO for Everest Insurance Company of Canada

Darin Scanzano will be the new CEO of Everest Insurance Company of Canada effective this summer, Everest Re Group Ltd. announced Wednesday. Scanzano will be based in Toronto and report to David Sandler, head of the Everest Insurance Risk Management Group. Scanzano was previously executive vice president and chief agent for Axis Capital in Toronto. […]

By Greg Meckbach | June 6, 2018

2 min read

Where Canada sits with overland flood insurance

Five years after massive flooding caused more than $4 billion in uninsured losses in Alberta, more than a dozen insurers representing about three-fourths of Canada’s property insurance market are now covering overland flood. Sixteen insurers representing 77% of the market now offer overland flood coverage, Craig Stewart, vice president of federal affairs for Insurance Bureau […]

2 min read

If politicians get rid of territorial ratings, then what?

Ontario’s political parties have all expressed a desire at some point this year to eliminate territory as a rating factor for insurance premium, but none of the parties have been clear about how they would actually do it, an insurance expert warns. Prohibiting insurers from using territory as a factor in pricing auto insurance would […]

3 min read

The ‘key challenge’ in defending businesses suffering violent attacks

If a violent attack occurs on your business client’s premises, there is a good chance the insurance company will somehow be involved. If a random person walks into a restaurant or retail store “without warning and undertakes some violent criminal act that no one could have foreseen,” that innocent business owner could end up being […]

3 min read

Major Canadian retailer finds cyberattacks “more difficult to detect”

Cyber threats are becoming “more difficult to detect,” a major Canadian retailer suggested Tuesday. Indigo Books and Music Inc., whose holdings include the Chapters and Coles book chains, “may be required to expend significant additional resources” to protect against threats such as cyberterrorism, phishing and computer viruses, the firm said Tuesday in its management discussion […]

2 min read

Bomb threats highlight liability risk of office towers with lax security

In the wake of a threatened bombing in Stratford, Ont., and a restaurant bombing near Toronto, landlords of office towers may want to review their security systems to reduce their risk of liability. In general, owners of multi-tenant buildings have some duty to provide security for their tenants, Gary Hirst, CEO of managing general agent […]

3 min read

The latest home insurance product for brokers to figure out

With equipment breakdown and other new coverages available from homeowners’ insurance carriers, brokers need to make sure their clients or prospective clients are aware of their options, a Regina-based broker warns. “There are so many new products” available in homeowner lines, Dave Pettigrew, president and CEO of Harvard Western Insurance, said in an interview. He […]

2 min read