A French robo-broker and an auto insurer backed by Canada’s largest property and casualty carrier are among the insurtechs “driving disruption” in financial services, a report released Tuesday suggests. KPMG announced Tuesday the fifth annual Fintech100, a report that highlights 100 companies that were selected by a panel of judges from both KPMG and Sydney, […]
By Greg Meckbach | October 23, 2018
2 min read
Brokers may wind up selling cyber insurance for automated vehicles by 2040. “Cybersecurity is a red-hot topic in the insurance world,” Sami Shaker, a physicist for Kodsi Forensic Engineering, told brokers attending a presentation on automated cars at the 2018 Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) last week. “These cars are going to be connected […]
By David Gambrill | October 22, 2018
2 min read
Small business clients gravitate to cyber insurance not for the insurance, per se, but for the accompanying services following an incident, a cyber underwriter said recently. “If you think about it in the context of car insurance, they’re buying their cyber insurance effectively not for the car claims payment, but for the breakdown cover. They […]
By Jason Contant | October 22, 2018
2 min read
Cyber extortionists will soon likely gravitate toward attacks on global or shared infrastructure, a cybersecurity expert predicts. From a cyber insurance perspective, brokers should highlight that the coverage helps organizations manage the risks they can control, as well as the ones they have little control over. “Regardless of the organization and the investment they’ve made […]
By Jason Contant | October 17, 2018
2 min read
Cyber insurance needs to be explained using plain language, rather than by “insurance people using insurance-isms,” a large cyber underwriter said recently. “Part of the problem with cyber is the fact that it’s called cyber,” said Andy Holmes, chief underwriter officer with CFC Underwriting, “rather than people explaining it more simply, which is, ‘Look, it’s […]
By Jason Contant | October 16, 2018
2 min read
One of the biggest risks posed by blockchain-based currencies is financing of terrorism and it is reasonable to ask whether there should be tighter regulation of this technology, federal finance minister Bill Morneau told a Senate committee. Bitcoin is one application of blockchain, a computer database technology that has a variety of uses, including insurance […]
By Greg Meckbach | October 15, 2018
3 min read
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says Canadian businesses reported spending $14 billion on cybersecurity in 2017 as they confront greater risks in the digital world. The StatCan survey finds that more than one in five companies said they were impacted by a cyberattack last year, with large businesses more than twice as likely as small ones […]
By Jason Contant | October 15, 2018
1 min read
Small business clients want to spend less time filling out insurance application forms and more time getting advice from their brokers, an insurance technology expert says. “Unlike personal insurance, where there is more propensity to go direct, small business owners still value the conversation with a broker,” Daniel Shum, partner and national insurance sector leader […]
By Greg Meckbach | October 14, 2018
3 min read
Brokers in Canada have a technology platform available that allows them to customize different insurance coverages, or offer next-day service, through a self-serve app. The app provides a base quote for a customer. The broker can then use sliders to adjust variables in coverage. For example, if the client wants to spend $3,000, the broker […]
By Jason Contant | October 14, 2018
2 min read
Brokers looking to set up a chatbot on their site should know the core business purpose of the chatbot and how to manage customer expectations, Mitchell & Whale Insurance Brokers said recently. “Do you want it to answer common customer questions, collect data, screen prospects or quote new business?” asked Amanda Ketelaars, operations manager at […]
By Jason Contant | October 12, 2018
2 min read