More than 23 million eDocs transmitted in 2016: CSIO chair

The Centre for Study of Insurance Operations held its annual general meeting Thursday, acclaiming the president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario as a new board member and announcing the use of its eDocs standard was up about 45% in 2016 from the year before.

In 2013, CSIO announced that eDocs would be its first business activity available for certification.

“eDocs continues to be a success story for the broker channel, with over 23 million edocs personal lines commercial lines and farm transmitted between carriers and brokers last year, 45% more than 2015,” CSIO chairman Steve Whitelaw said April 13 at the organization’s annual members’ meeting.

The eDocs program is “designed to ensure standards-based solutions are uniformly implemented across the country, significantly improving efficiencies to the broker channel,” CSIO president and CEO Catherine Smola told members in 2014 after the formal portion of that year’s members’ meeting, held at Toronto’s Royal York Hotel.

A “conservative estimate” is that the total efficiency savings created by eDocs across Canada in 2016 is more than $22 million, Whitelaw said Thursday at the 2017 annual meeting, held at Toronto’s Shangri-La hotel.

CSIO also announced nominations for board positions and invited members to name additional nominees.

Whitelaw, vice president of strategic planning and execution at Travelers Canada, was among the existing board members who were acclaimed to new two-year terms.

CSIO vice chairman John Belyea, chief operating officer of Moore McLean Insurance Group Ltd., is stepping down from the board.

Also stepping down from the CSIO board is Ben Isotta-Riches, chief information officer of Aviva Canada.

Debra Smith, vice president of business solutions delivery at Aviva Canada, was acclaimed Thursday to the board.

Also acclaimed were: Syd Church, vice president of applications and strategic initiatives for Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company; Robyn Young, principal at Calgary-based Lundgren & Young Insurance Ltd. and past president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Alberta (IBAA); Traci Boland, a partner at London-based Ontario West Insurance Brokers and president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario; John Elliott, senior vice president of IT and chief information officer at RSA Canada; Tracy Krunic, vice president, commercial lines (Ontario and Atlantic) at Intact Insurance.

CSIO board members with another year in their existing term are: Steve Earle, managing partner for W.C.L. Bauld Insurance Brokers; Bruno Fortin, president of J. Gerard Fortin & Associes Inc.; Sheldon Wasylenko, general manager of Rayner Agencies Ltd. and a former president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Saskatchewan; Sean Christie, chief information officer and vice-president of information services at Gore Mutual Insurance Company; and Christopher Harness, vice president of solutions delivery at Northbridge Financial Corp.

Peter Braid, president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada, is a guest member of CSIO’s board.

CSIO certification is free to vendors and carriers paying CSIO membership fees. In order to be certified, members need to submit a completed application package that includes a self-assessment, including supporting documentation. CSIO then reviews those applications. Those who are successful receive a certification letter. CSIO also adds the names of those certified to its list of certified products and post that information to its Certified Solutions page.

“Today 75% of our member insurance companies have received personal lines eDocs certification,” Smola said Thursday. “With the introduction of eDocs for commercial lines, it was only natural that we expand our program to include commercial lines educes certification also and today 35% of our member insurance companies are certified for commercial lines eDocs.”