Issue 2005-15: April 12, 2005
This newsletter is for members of the Canadian Insurance Industry,
and those who serve it. The newsletter is published weekly, and
notes information about the use of the Internet and related
technologies in the industry, insurance products and the marketplace.
Some is international, where we feel it is relevant to Canada.
If you think a fellow employee, or someone else involved in the insurance industry, would have some interest in the information, please tell them about this page. If they wish, they can subscribe from the "Subscribe" link on the page at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/newsletter/newsletter.php.
New Participants and Sponsors:
Marshall & Swift / Boeckh, who offer property valuation and the IntegriClaim™ Suite of property claims solutions have joined our vendor directories.
Articles of Interest
Long Term (Care) Planning: It’s Not Just For the Old: By Karen Henderson
Canadians have been quietly caring for their elderly for hundreds of years. Suddenly, however, it seems that long term care has worked its way from obscurity into the national limelight virtually overnight. If you consider the state of the country, the reasons are obvious.
Product Information
CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits: An International Assignment Case Study.
CIGNA provides expertise in international medical case management: expert advice, professional support and follow-through A cooperative team of experts makes all the difference for an executive and his family in accepting an expatriate assignment and ultimately arriving on assignment safely.
Claims
Finding the Truth through DNA Evidence April 28, 2005: ISB Claim Information Training School.
8 April 2005, Milton ON -- This Insurance Search Bureau Claim Information Training School seminar "Finding the Truth through DNA Evidence April 28, 2005" is the second in a series of regularly scheduled seminars designed to provide claim professionals with the knowledge and tools they need in conducting claim investigations.
Distribution
Royal & SunAlliance makes WebBusiness easier for brokers using The Broker’s Workstation: Custom Software Solutions.
April 6, 2005 -- Royal & SunAlliance today announced direct, single-click access to WebBusiness and to Bravo, Royal & SunAlliance’s broker portal, from within Custom Software Solutions’ agency management system, The Broker’s Workstation.
Standards, A Key to Industry Competitiveness: CLIEDIS' Annual Seminar.
Toronto, 5 April 2005. The plans for the seminar are now finalized. It will be held Thursday May 5, 2005 at the Ontario Bar Association Conference Centre, Toronto, Ontario. It is becoming more and more challenging to stay competitive in the ever changing life insurance industry. Mergers and acquisitions are costly, information technology costs keep rising, and threats from other financial communities are real. The key is with the use of standards.
CSIO Insurance Portal Status Update
Week ending April 8, 2005:
The number of brokers integrated is now 164, with 41 more in progress.
Coachman has gone live with both auto and hab quotes, and PAFCO too is now live with auto quotes.
Business of Insurance
The reality of reform - how will the industry look and feel? Nick Prettejohn, Lloyd's CEO.
I am not sure that the challenges that I am about to discuss for the general insurance industry are necessarily “strategic”. But challenges they certainly are and you can apply whatever use or misuse of the word “strategic” to them that most appeals. For those of you who have had the misfortune to have heard me speak before, I have only a limited set of themes which I tend to repeat.
From Canadian Insurance ENEWS: Lloyd's Announces US$2.60bn Profit for 2004.
Lloyd's, the world's leading specialist insurance market, today announced an annually accounted profit of £1,357 million (US$2,605 million) in 2004. This was achieved despite net claims of £1.2 billion (US$2.3 billion) from the US hurricanes, in the worst-ever year for industry losses from natural catastrophes.
From Canadian Insurance ENEWS: A.M. Best: Capital Adequacy Ratio for Canadian Property/Casualty Insurers.
April 1, 2005 - Today the rating company A.M. Best released the paper "Understanding BCAR for Canadian Property/Casualty Insurers.
Consumer Information
How do you tell Mom or Dad it’s no longer safe for them to drive?
Washington, D.C., APRIL 5, 2005 —Most older drivers believe that they will know when they should stop driving. But giving up the car keys, along with one’s independence and the many benefits of owning a car, is often one of the most difficult decisions an older person must make. Insurance Information Institute offers tips on how to talk to loved ones about retiring from driving.
Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic Collision Statistics: Transport Canada and CCMTA.
Transport Canada offers a variety of statistics, collected in cooperation with the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, about collisions and related items in Canada over time. The statistics are summarized and distributed as a pamphlet.
Top travel tips from RBC Insurance.
MISSISSAUGA, March 9, 2005 - Canadians are planning much-anticipated vacations. While it's easy to get carried away in the excitement, keeping a few helpful hints in mind can make for a safer and happier vacation throughout the year.
TD Meloche Monnex to Reimburse Premium Overpayment by Auto Insurance Clients in Ontario.
MONTREAL, March 30, 2005 - TD Meloche Monnex today announced that it will reimburse some of its Ontario auto insurance clients following a rating error that occurred in 1999 in the calculation of their premiums. An average reimbursement of $68 for the five-year period will be sent to approximately 155,000 clients.
Marketing and the Market Place
Ipsos-Reid Offers Fact Guide, from The Canadian Inter@ctive Reid Report.
April 2005 - Ipsos-Reid has published a short Fact Guide, based on information from the Canadian Inter@ctive Reid Report, the definitive resource on Canadians and the Internet. More than 50% of online Canadians have now made a purchase on the web.
USA Consumers Say They’re Primed to Buy More Life Insurance: LIMRA.
Windsor, CT, April 6, 2005 In a broad survey of American households, nearly half said they believe they need more life insurance and more than one-quarter said they actually expect to purchase more in the coming year - a decision that would add trillions of dollars of coverage to the amount already in force.
RBC Housing Study Part II: Ipsos-Reid.
March 29, 2005 Toronto, ON - Nine in ten Canadians say that buying a house or condominium is currently a good investment according to the RBC Royal Bank 12th Annual Housing Study with four in ten (37%) Canadians it is a "very good investment" - a consistent trend upward since 1999.
Making the Sale Online: eMarketer.
Nielsen//NetRatings finds that the top 10 online retailers, based on their ability to convert visitors to buyers, include companies in a range of categories, including catalog, online-only and television shopping network--but only one typical bricks-and-mortar retailer.
Reference and Statistics
Canadian Economic Outlook April 2005: SwissRe.
The strong Canadian dollar, which lowered growth in the second half of 2004, is unlikely to strengthen much further. Hence, after the first half of this year, the impact of the CAD appreciation will have done most of its damage. Late this year and into next year, relatively low interest rates should boost growth. Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth will be about 2.9% this year and 3.2% next year.
Managing Relationships and Customer Service
KANA Launches KANA Response on Demand for Service Resolution Management.
MENLO PARK, Calif. - March 22, 2005 - KANA Software, Inc., a leading provider of Service Resolution Management (SRM) solutions, today announced KANA Response On Demand, the company's second hosted SRM solution. The company is making KANA Response, an industry leading e-mail response management solution, available via a hosted model in partnership with OpSource, a leading enabler of Software as a Service (SaaS) applications.
from Doug:
The annual meetings of industry groups like CLIEDIS and CSIO truly indicate that spring is well sprung. It is so easy for us to throw the caustic comment about how little such organizations contribute. But dig a little deeper and you find the real contribution, so often out of sight, that their endeavours have generated. Many of the data interchange activities which we take for granted today rose from the ground-breaking work they did just a few short years ago. Celebrate the successes, and then dig in for the next tough row, for industry innovation is never easy.
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