Industry
A.M. Best Co. has upgraded Optimum General Insurance Group (Canada)’s financial strength rating to B+ (good) from B (fair).Optimum General Insurance Group consists of Optimum Insurance Company Inc., its wholly-owned subsidiary, Optimum Farm Insurance Inc. (both of Montreal, Quebec) and Optimum West Insurance Company (Vancouver, British Columbia).The outlook for the rating is stable, an A.M. […]
By Canadian Underwriter | June 16, 2009
1 min read
The Guy Carpenter Global Reinsurance Composite showed a net loss of US$127 million in 2009 Q1, marking an 86% improvement over 2008 Q1.The composite’s combined ratio decreased from 96% in 2008 Q1 to 93% in 2009 Q1.Unrealized losses also improved quarter-over-quarter, from US$5.3 billion in 2008 Q1 to US$3.2 billion in 2009 Q1. “This 39% […]
A.M. Best Co. has downgraded Peace Hills General Insurance’s financial strength rating (FSR) to B (fair) from B+ (good).A.M. Best also downgraded the insurer’s credit rating to “bb” from “bbb-”. The outlook for both ratings is negative.“These ratings actions reflect the further decline in Peace Hills’ risk-adjusted capitalization due primarily to investment and underwriting losses,” […]
By Canadian Underwriter | June 15, 2009
2 min read
ACE Canada has launched an errors and omissions product designed for the Canadian technology market.ACE DigiTech digital technology and professional liability insurance program offers up to Cdn$20 million in limits and provides comprehensive, technology-based, professional liability coverage and related network security, privacy protection and cyber extortion coverage, an ACE release says.The product includes coverage for […]
Canada is among several countries anticipated to be harmonizing their local assurance standards with a proposed new international assurance standard for third party reporting (the ISAE 3402 standard), according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). “In recent years, the growing importance of outsourcing, coupled with a heightened focus by businesses on internal controls, has placed […]
The soft market is coming to an end, as the insurance industry has witnessed the smallest decline in U.S. commercial property and casualty insurance prices in four years, according to a Towers Perrin survey. Property and D&O liability prices rose slightly in 2009 Q1, as did accounts with annual premiums in excess of US$50,000, according […]
The insurance industry is hailing the Alberta Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold the minor injury regulation (MIR) as a victory, but admits there is still a cloud of uncertainty.“We feel our auto insurance is a good system and today’s unanimous Court of Appeal decision supports this, and confirms that the government’s auto insurance system […]
By Canadian Underwriter | June 12, 2009
The Alberta Court of Appeal has ruled that the province’s legislation introducing a Cdn$4,000 cap on insurance claims for minor auto injuries does not infringe the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.In doing so, the appeal court overturned a lower court decision in February 2008 that found the Alberta cap legislation discriminated against victims of […]
Nova Scotia’s newly-elected premier, Darrell Dexter, is within his mandate to remove the cap on minor injuries and replace it with a deductible, but he must be prepared for an increase in the cost of premium for auto insurance, says George Cooke, president and CEO of The Dominion.Challenges to the province’s cap are currently before […]
Standard & Poor’s has withdrawn its public information rating on 15 Canadian insurance companies. “We withdrew the ratings because we believe that we no longer have sufficient publicly available information on these companies,” S&P’s notes in a release. A spokesperson for the ratings agency added that, due to vendor-provider issues, S&P’s could no longer obtain […]
By Canadian Underwriter | June 11, 2009
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