Moves and Views

 1 RSA Canada announced in July that Julie Pingree [1] is the property and casualty insurer’s new vice president of commercial insurance. Pingree’s mandate will be to grow RSA’s small to medium commercial book profitably, while enhancing the company’s broker service model and evolving ePolicy, its electronic trading platform, notes a statement from RSA. Starting her career with RSA in 1987, she most recently served as senior vice president of corporate underwriting at Northbridge Insurance, and before that, commercial lines vice president for Intact Insurance from 2007 to 2011. She is a Chartered Insurance Professional (CIP), member of the organizing committee of the Insurance Institute of Canada’s annual CIP Symposium and sits on the institute’s national council.

2 Burns & Wilcox Canada, which has opened an office in Halifax, has welcomed Brett Graham [2] as the company’s Nova Scotia representative. Graham comes to the new role from his duties as regional director for Montreal and Quebec City with RSA. Previous roles with RSA include as commercial underwriting manager and Specialty Risk Solutions team leader, Burns & Wilcox Canada reports. An experienced and bilingual insurance executive, he specializes in commercial multi-line underwriting, sales, team management and customer service, and is a Fellow Chartered Insurance Professional (FCIP). Burns & Wilcox Canada has locations in Halifax, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and St. John’s.

3 Transatlantic Reinsurance Company of New York named Raymond Davidson [3] as regional vice president for treaty underwriting earlier this year. Davidson is now responsible for developing and managing TransRe’s casualty treaty portfolio in Canada, notes a statement from the reinsurer. Fluently bilingual, Davidson started his career with Aetna Casualty in 1977 in Montreal and brings several years of management and underwriting experience to TransRe. He most recently was assistant vice president, casualty for a major international reinsurance organization.

4 The Co-operators General Insurance Company of Guelph, Ontario announced in July that it has launched QuickQuote, a tool on its website to provide auto insurance quotes to users who enter basic underwriting information. A user is provided with estimates after giving his or her name, date of birth, sex, postal code and vehicle make and model. The tool also includes “sliders,” which allow consumers to test the effect that factors such as kilometres driven per year, commute distance and years licensed to drive in Canada have on their rates. After an estimate is given, the website directs users to information about how to connect with The Co-operators, providing an estimate ID number. The company reports that in the “near future,” applications will be developed to also provide home and life insurance estimates.

5 National Brokerage Services Inc., a specialty commercial insurance provider, has welcomed Shane Neil [5] as director of professional liability. Working out of the head office in Montreal, Neil previously was national manager of life sciences for Toronto-based Creechurch International Underwriters Ltd., which he joined in 2006. He was responsible for the property, casualty and professional lines of the firm’s life science products. Before that, Neil was a commercial and technology package underwriter for Chubb Insurance Company of Canada. He is an FCIP, holds the Canadian Risk Management designation and is pursuing his broker’s licence.

6 The Insurance Brokers Association of Canada (IBAC) announced in July that Farmers’ Mutual has maintained its support of the Broker Identity Program (BIP) at the full partner level. BIPPER, BIP’s centrepiece symbol, captures the value that insurance brokers bring to clients: choice, coverage, security and peace of mind, IBAC reports. By investing in BIP, Farmers’ Mutual supports a campaign whose purpose is to raise awareness of the value of the insurance broker distribution network. BIP is a branding campaign for more than 35,000 brokers.

7 The Restoration Contractors Organization of Canada (RCOC) has announced the composition of its new board of directors. RCOC’s new treasurer is Matt Johnson, replacing Stephan Roy, who remains on the Board of Directors. Johnson was also a director before being named treasurer. Ken Robinson remains chair of RCOC’s board while Lou Abbruzzese will continue to serve as vice chair. The other board members are Glenn Woolfrey, Mike Sully, Ken Tucker and Will Cook. RCOC’s president is Kyle Urech.

8 RSA Canada noted in July that brokers using The Agency Manager software from Applied Systems will be able to transfer RSA policy documents using CSIOnet, an electronic data interchange network provided by the Centre for the Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO). RSA announced in 2012 that it would transmit policy documents using CSIO XML standards to brokers using PowerBroker, sigXP and The Broker’s Workstation systems. “Now brokers using TAM (version 12) will also be able to receive copies of eligible policy documents daily via CSIOnet, for attachment in their system without manual intervention,” RSA reports.

9 Three Canadian carriers were among those to announce donations to the Red Cross to help people in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, where almost four dozen individuals died as a result of the July 6 freight train derailment and explosion. The community is located about 100 kilometres east of Sherbrooke, near the United States border. Intact Insurance is donating $100,000 to help the residents of Lac-Mégantic, the Guarantee Company of North America is donating $10,000 through the Canadian Red Cross and Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. is donating $50,000 to the Red Cross. “The Guarantee’s donation will be used to help meet the most critical needs of evacuees and support the Red Cross as it mobilizes volunteer teams and provides emergency services and supplies, including beds, blankets and pillows,” notes a statement from the insurer. Intact, for its part, also set up a community response centre in Lac-Mégantic to help customers process claims and arrange for temporary accommodation. At about 1 am July 6, a Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway train containing 72 oil tanker cars that had been parked uphill from Lac-Mégantic started to move down the 1.2% grade, picking up speed and resulting in 63 tanker cars derailing. The subsequent explosions and fires destroyed much of the surrounding property and prompted the evacuation of at least 2,000 people.

10 Maksym Stolyarevskyy [10] has been hired as a commercial account executive for Bryson & Associates Insurance Brokers Ltd., located in Ajax, Ontario. Stolyarevskyy, who is fluent in English, Ukrainian and Russian, has been in the financial industry for eight years, notes a statement from Bryson & Associates. He graduated from Ryerson University with a bachelor of commerce, and is a CIP.

 11 First Durham Insurance & Financial Ltd. announced its $5,000 Possibilities Grant in July. Over the course of five years, the Pickering, Ontario-based brokerage plans to donate to a family in the region who has a disabled child under the age of 18. The donation will be made through a registered education savings plan or a registered disability savings plan. “For families who have a child with special needs, oftentimes the short-term costs related to managing a child’s disability limit their ability to invest in RESPs or RDSPs,” Bryan Yetman [11], vice president of First Durham Insurance, says in a press release. To be eligible, the recipient must be under 18, have a disabili ty or a sibling with a disability, live in the Regional Municipality of Durham and have “been inspirational in their efforts to raise awareness of children with special needs.” Nominations opened July 16 and will be accepted until September 15, with the grant being awarded October 15 at the Grandview Children’s Centre in Oshawa, Ontario.