What’s New: In Brief (December 19, 2006)

Gore Mutual Insurance Company is offering more than 50,000 free taxi rides this New Year’s Eve to their auto policyholders, the company recently announced.”Community and road safety is a shared responsibility, and the taxi offer program is an excellent safety initiative aimed at reducing impaired driving as well making our roadways the safest in North America,” said Waterloo Regional Police Chief Larry Gravill. “We are very proud to work in partnership with the staff at Gore Mutual to make this New Year’s Eve a safe ride.””We are very proud of our New Year’s Eve taxi offer,” said Kevin McNeil, president and CEO of Gore Mutual. “We believe this is a responsible initiative for an auto insurance company. It makes Ontario communities a little safer on New Year’s Eve.”Gore Mutual has been offering this program for a number of years. The company sends auto policyholders a letter and voucher for their taxi ride (up to a maximum of $15) before Christmas.

The end of 2006 shows signs of changing priorities within both the energy insurance buyer and supplier communities, with buyers seeking alternatives to commercial insurance and suppliers trying to protect their newly lucrative energy market share, according to a review published by Willis Group Holding.Willis’ comprehensive review looks at the energy market over the past six months and includes interviews with several leading energy risk managers. They reveal a move away from the commercial insurance market towards the use of self-insurance, captives and mutuals.Given the market shift away from record energy losses and toward increased profits, insurers are seeking to protect what has rapidly become a highly profitable energy portfolio.More individual locations are testing energy market capacity, as increased oil and steel prices, contractor day rates and well-drilling costs escalate in value across the energy spectrum.Willis’ review finds competition is increasing for programs that do not market capacity, as well as for those programs that are located in areas where natural catastrophes do not create aggregate concerns.