Insurance & Risk, Analysis, Events and Careers
Commercial insurance brokers are a step closer to having standards for policy inquiries on certain auto and general liability coverage. The Centre for Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO) said its Innovation and Emerging Technology (INNOTECH) API working groups have published Application Programming Interface (API) standards using Java Script Object Notation (JSON) for individually-rated commercial automobile […]
By Phil | March 18, 2022
2 min read
Add a single flood map to the wish lists of several brokers, who are having a tough time dealing with individual insurance companies competing on flood maps. A Canada-wide flood map has yet to be implemented across the industry, and so many insurers have commissioned their own maps. But if one insurer’s flood map shows […]
By Alyssa DiSabatino | March 16, 2022
3 min read
An Alberta broker has been fined $700 for failing to transfer her broker’s license when the Co-operators General Insurance Company took over the ownership of her brokerage. Brokers in Alberta and other provinces must have a license that is connected with a “sponsoring” company or brokerage. When a broker moves from one brokerage to another, […]
By David Gambrill | March 3, 2022
2 min read
Inflation could prolong the hard market in Canada’s property and casualty lines, brokers caution. RMS Canada reports that inflation will hit 5% in 2022 before approaching 3% by the year’s end. “Persistent inflation is primarily due to supply constraints and surging demand, and is being largely driven by volatile sectors like gasoline, food, shelter, utilities […]
By David Gambrill | February 25, 2022
3 min read
A major shortage of seasoned commercial underwriting staff is impacting broker relationships and productivity, some brokerages have reported. For an industry already struggling with a country-wide talent crunch exacerbated by the pandemic, renewed M&A activity and a hard market, brokers are feeling the effects of “cookie-cutter underwriting” more so than ever before, they say. “Suddenly, […]
By David Gambrill | February 22, 2022
3 min read
Of the list of things keeping independent brokers up at night, none is more daunting than finding ways to compete with an “overwhelming amount of consolidators swallowing the industry,” say members of Canada’s largest network of independent brokers. “It’s a question we ask ourselves every day: how independent brokers can compete with the big boys,” […]
By David Gambrill | February 18, 2022
3 min read
The ongoing war for talent, coupled with the Great Resignation, has forced brokerages to shift their mindset on how they find and recruit talent. And that includes reaching out directly to suitable candidates on social media. Brokerages must begin to communicate their organization’s value in a way that is attractive to candidates, rather than having […]
By Alyssa DiSabatino | February 11, 2022
3 min read
With some loss ratios peaking around 400% in recent years, underwriting cyber risk has become a challenge for the industry. Brokerage executives discussed whether cyber is becoming uninsurable, and agreed a lack of understanding about technology risk is creating undue exposures, in a Feb. 8 Canadian Underwriter webinar. “Cyber, like a lot of products, […]
By Alyssa DiSabatino | February 10, 2022
3 min read
While there is a perception that regulation is a threat to innovation in the Canadian financial services space, that’s not the case, say executives from a fintech hub. “[For] any start-up here in Canada, I think there’s a bit of a discussion around how regulation can hurt innovation, but we truly don’t believe that’s the […]
By Jason Contant | February 8, 2022
3 min read
Canadian brokers have a leg up on their counterparts in the United States and the U.K. when it comes to digital transformation, a recent survey finds. Seventy-three percent of Canadian brokerages say they have a digital strategy in place, and this number has been increasing year-over-year, according to Applied Systems’ 2021 Digital Technology Adoption Survey. The […]
By Alyssa DiSabatino | February 4, 2022
3 min read