INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

Rapidly Evolving Digital Environment Revamps Distribution for P&C Insurers
An AM Best survey of property/casualty insurers has found that more than half of respondents consider digitization and technological investments to be the biggest challenges in modernizing distribution and growing sales. Read more.

Most Large P&C Insurers Have Deployed Cloud Computing, Unstructured Data
Emerging technologies can help property & casualty insurers to sell more, manage risk better, or improve efficiency, but they can also threaten disaggregation or create new ways of doing business insurers must address. In a new report, Aite-Novarica Group analyzes a survey of insurer CIOs to help P&C insurers track adoption rates, planned pilot activity, and use cases across nearly a dozen relatively new technology areas. Read more.

Pandemic Prompts Re-Examining Of Relationships With Work, Technology, And The Planet
Two years of disruption to the fabric of society has resulted in a collective shift in people's relationships with work, consumerism, technology, and the planet, according to a report from Accenture. New behaviors will challenge businesses to rethink their approach to design, innovation and growth as a result of the shifts in employee expectations and mindset, scarcity caused by disrupted supply chains, and new virtual environments such as the metaverse. Read more.

Cybercrime Report Reveals Spike In Digital Fraud
LexisNexis® Risk Solutions has released the results of its latest Cybercrime Report, an analysis of transaction data from the LexisNexis® Digital Identity Network® in the second half of 2021. The report shows a significant shift to mobile fraud over the last four years, with mobile traffic representing 75% of all traffic. Read more.

Canada Life, ClaimSecure Launch SecurePak
Canada Life and ClaimSecure have announced the launch of SecurePak, a bundled offering that includes Canada Life's insurance benefits and ClaimSecure's health and dental claims adjudication services. Read more.

New MGA Adds Capacity To Canadian Market
Having secured Coverholder status with Lloyd's of London within its first year of operation, recently formed Managing General Agent, SIGNAL Underwriting Inc., is currently launching its suite of products to the Canadian marketplace. Read more.

Brokercore Partners With A Top Brokerage
Brokercore is pleased to announce their latest service contract with Navacord Corp., one of Canada's top commercial insurance brokerages. This collaboration provides Navacord an online enterprise solution for program business. The solution offers an online insurance management system to enable a fully digital product offering for Navacord clients through Brokercore's quote, bind, pay, and issue automated process. Read more.

Eddy Solutions Partners With Insurance Leader
One of Canada's leading insurance carriers has teamed up with Eddy Smart Home Solutions Ltd. to bring Eddy's award-winning IoT leak protection technology across several provinces. The partnership was first to install Eddy's system in approximately 100 homes and is now being rolled out imminently to over 1,000 homes as part of a master service agreement. Read more.

BrokerLink Acquires Tailor Made, Maple Insurance
BrokerLink's momentum in the acquisition space continues with the acquisition of Tailor Made Insurance Services Ltd. and Maple Insurance Inc., effective April 1st. These acquisitions enable BrokerLink to serve more customers in Southern and Northern Alberta. Read more.

Westland Acquires Two Prairie Brokerages
Westland Insurance Group continues to grow with the acquisition of two new brokerages: Saskatchewan-based Booth Burnett Insurance and Savante Insurance in Manitoba. Westland is Canada's largest independently owned Canadian brokerage, and these latest acquisitions expand its presence further across the country. Read more.

Marsh Launches New Cybersecurity Marketplace Services
Marsh, the world’s leading insurance broker and risk advisor, is pleased to announce the launch of new cybersecurity marketplace services to simplify the procurement process for US clients seeking to protect their organizations from ever-expanding cyber threats. Read more.

Loss Adjusting Claims Leaders Partnership To Pioneer Benefit Transformation
Pacesetter Claims Service, CIS Group and CRU GROUP are partnering with Wingspan, a software company revolutionizing payments and benefits for enterprises committed to providing better support for critical freelance workers. This software implementation is an unprecedented step for the insurance industry and will usher in a new era of benefits for freelance workers in the United States. Read more.

Euclid Transactional Adds Hudson, Westfield
Euclid Transactional, LLC, a global managing general agent focused on transactional insurance, is pleased to announce that Hudson Insurance Group and Westfield Insurance will participate in its North American program and current partner Zurich North America has agreed to increase its committed capacity. Read more.

Verisk Assembles Climate Advisory Council
To help organizations better understand the impacts of climate change and inform their resilience and sustainability efforts, Verisk has formed the Verisk Climate Advisory Council. Council members will provide strategic guidance and feedback on climate change solutions Verisk is developing, such as the climate conditioning of the company's extreme event models, and help ensure that Verisk is well-informed on the latest climate change research and analysis to help drive its development of industry-leading products and services. Read more.

​​​​​ICBC Launching Driving Simulation App
ICBC, in partnership with the provincial government, TELUS and Project Whitecard, is launching a new simulation and training tool for inexperienced drivers. Street Sense is an interactive application designed to help pre-drivers and inexperienced drivers gain experience in recognizing and avoiding potential hazards on the road in a safe, online environment. Read more.

CISRO Releases Principles Of Conduct For Insurance Intermediaries
The Canadian Insurance Services Regulatory Organizations has published the Principles of Conduct for Insurance Intermediaries to help ensure the fair treatment of customers in the life & health and property & casualty insurance sectors. Read more.

How Broker Tech Can Unlock the Potential of Your Commercial Distribution Team
Free webinar – Wednesday, April 27, 1pm

Commercial lines insurance is transforming, but the needs are the same. The customer wants good coverage and quality service for a fair price. The broker needs to be efficient to attract and retain good customers. The insurer/MGA needs to be competitive in product, pricing and service.

Hear from the Relay Platform team about how technology is helping. Register now or learn more.

Featuring:

In the InsurTech Spotlight this week:

Dundas Life
Dundas Life combines the best of the digital experience and high-quality insurance advisory. Insurance is complicated and shouldn't be left to robo-advisors. Our digitally enabled advisors make the insurance assessment process accessible while guiding you through all of life's hurdles in the decades ahead. Learn more.

Calling all InsurTechs! Click here to participate.

Featured job opportunities:

RIBO-Licensed Commercial Lines CSR
Hope & Harder Insurance Brokers
St. Catharines, ON

Senior ClaimCare Advisor, Accident Benefits
Gore Mutual Insurance
Cambridge, ON

From Doug Digital Transformation in Commercial Lines Due to its complexity and scope, commercial lines has lagged behind personal lines in its digital transformation. Three of the main drivers of change are data, connectivity and service. Data: Information about the customer's business is needed by the broker and the underwriters at the Insurers or MGAs in order to quote and bind. Third parties are offering more data, electronically. More tools – remote inspections for example – are being used to reduce manual steps. Connectivity: Basic Internet is not an issue today. Communicating and presenting the data in an efficient and understandable manner for the people who need it is a challenge. Having a format which can be automatically processed is a bigger step. These each contribute to faster service times and better risk assessments. Thank you CSIO for developing standards; they are needed. Service: Digital service is one thing; adding meaning is another. Digital tools to better provide background information (definitions, advice, etc.) for all participants – underwriters, brokers, customers – are improving. These enhance the customer experience. Significant digital transformation is well underway. Stay tuned for updates on the ICTA nominations. And don't miss the Relay Platform webinar on Wednesday, April 27. Doug Grant, CIP Partner Insurance-Canada.ca