Risk
This year's annual general meeting and conference of the Insurance Brokers Association of British Columbia (IBABC), which was recently held in Victoria, focused on implementation of increased competition in the province's optional auto insurance marketplace. Also included in the association's top priorities in the year ahead is facilitating increased underwriting capacity in commercial lines, where the province's brokers have most experienced the effect of the "hard market" cycle.
By Sean van Zyl, Editor | May 31, 2003
5 min read
Industry
Storms, including tornadoes that ripped through several Midwest U.S. states the first week of May will be among the country’s worst cat storm losses ever, causing an estimated US$1.55 billion in insured damage, says the U.S. Insurance Services Office (ISO). The previously held record for damages as a result of thunder/wind storms is US$2.2 billion, […]
May 31, 2003
1 min read
The Gerling Canada Insurance Co. is set to be sold for an undisclosed amount to a group of Toronto-based financial and private equity investors organized by Newport Partners. Gerling Canada declined to comment on the pending sale, stating that it is a “private matter”. Rating agency A.M. Best placed the Gerling’s Canadian company’s “A- (excellent)” […]
2 min read
There are a lot of things wrong with insurer income statements and balance-sheets these days - lackluster investment returns, rising claims costs, persistently bad underwriting results - all of which have put tremendous pressure on company "cost centers" to prove their worth. Information technology (IT) departments are no exception, with increased expectations for a return on investment. In an environment where vendors have come and gone, and many solutions have not lived up to the hype, insurers might be tempted to scale back IT investments. But, with a turn in insurer fortunes expected to come in the next year to 18 months, insurance companies can ill afford to be caught lagging, say experts. IT, they say, could well be a pivotal part of that return to profitability.
By Vikki Spencer | May 31, 2003
10 min read
While not many insurers writing auto in Ontario would agree that Bill-59 - the Automobile Insurance Rate Stability Act - was the answer to their prayers in bringing about effective reform to a longstanding problematic product, not all would share their perspective. Rob Sampson, a member of provincial parliament (MPP) and the driving force behind the latest auto insurance product reform initiatives packaged under Bill-198, believes that legislative measures introduced in 1996 under Bill-59 achieved its purpose in stabilizing pricing and enticing insurers back into the marketplace. The current legislation, which will soon be publicized as regulations, is an extension of what Bill-59 set out to do, Sampson says. In this respect, the current market environment is not unlike that of 1996 when insurers' appetite for taking on business had waned, he observes, which the latest reforms are aimed at bringing insurance companies back to the table.
6 min read
The spread of highly contagious atypical pneumonia to Canada, particularly Toronto, caused huge economic repercussions in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries. What is the impact on the insurance sector?
By Craig Harris | May 31, 2003
9 min read
The ongoing bleeding in the auto markets across nearly all provinces of Canada, coupled with the devastating impact of the investment environment on insurers' income statement and balance-sheets, served as core issues of discussion at this year's Canadian Insurance Congress. With the auto loss damage having spread from companies income returns to cause capital deterioration - which recently saw a senior management shakeout at a leading personal lines carrier - speakers and attendees at the congress meeting speculated to whether this may just be the start of a long line of casualties and ultimate consolidation of the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry as insurers try to find direction.
General insurance underwriters analyze a variety of important factors in determining the risk of an applicant. Determining underwriting risk is a tricky science that involves a number of factors before the appropriate coverages are allowed and rates defined. Apart from determining the level of insurance permitted and priced, underwriters must also decide if the risk should be taken at all. Electronic data transmission and storage has cultivated new databases that should be used as criteria in assessing underwriting risks.
By Scott Fitzgerald | May 31, 2003
7 min read
As Canada's insurers seek to quantify their catastrophe exposure, earthquake models offer an insight into how technology can further underwriting. Even events south of the border illustrate the wealth of new information at insurers' fingertips to better comprehend large losses that can have a significant impact on reinsurance and reserves.
By Eric Gobble and Don Windeler at RMS | May 31, 2003
4 min read
While industry watchers eagerly await the release of insurers’ preliminary financial data for the first quarter of this year, the “bad taste” of last year’s dismal numbers continue to linger – with approximately 80% of insurance companies having now submitted their yearend returns to the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), the adverse loss development for […]
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