INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

GenAI: Operational Gains, But Integration Lags
Three-quarters of midsize Canadian organizations are already adopting generative AI into their business operations, but less than half of these companies have achieved full or partial integration of AI technologies, according to a new survey from RSM Canada LLP. Read more.

Rival Launches The Future Of Quoting
Rival Insurance Technology, a leader in insurance management systems and connectivity solutions, is excited to announce the launch of R-Quote, the next evolution in insurance rating and quoting technology. Read more.

Global InsurTech Report For Q2 2024
Gallagher Re is pleased to announce the release of its Q2 2024 Global InsurTech Report. The second report in this series focuses on ‘risk’ (pricing, underwriting and portfolio management/optimization). Read more.

MyChoice Releases First Publicly Available AI With Real-Time Life Insurance Quotes
MyChoice, a Toronto-based Insurtech company, has released an insurance assistant that allows users in the US and Canada to receive real-time life insurance quotes while interacting with an insurance AI assistant through their website. Read more.

KRGinsure Acquires Jones-Dooley Insurance Brokers
KRGinsure is delighted to announce the addition of Jones-Dooley Insurance Brokers Ltd. to the KRGinsure family, effective July 1st. Jones-Dooley has been a recognized name in the Ajax area since 1985. Read more.

Applied Systems, Sonata Software Partner On Platform Engineering, Enterprise Modernization
Sonata Software, a leading Modernization Engineering company, is pleased to announce that Applied Systems, a premier cloud-based software provider in the insurance sector, has selected Sonata Software to support its strategic technology projects. Read more.

Will Climate Change Cause Even More Extreme Weather, Cutting Into Business Profits?
More than nine in 10 Canadian business leaders fear that the extreme weather events over the last year are the new normal and that their organization will be hit by a climate-related event this year, according to a new survey by KPMG in Canada. Read more.

Escalating Data Breach Disruption: IBM
IBM's latest annual Cost of a Data Breach Report reveals that Canadian organizations are paying an average of more than CAD 6 million per data breach in 2024, as breaches grow more disruptive and further expand the demands on cyber-security teams. Read more.

Insured Losses From 2023 NS Wildfires, Flooding Approach Milestone: IBC
A new report from Insurance Bureau of Canada reveals that one year after consecutive devastating wildfires and flooding in Nova Scotia, the total insured losses have climbed to nearly half a billion dollars, according to estimates from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. Read more.

CCIR Report On Fair Treatment Of Insurance Customers
The Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators has released a report that gives new insights into governance and business culture in relation to Fair Treatment of Customer Reviews. Read more.

Retirement Planning A Struggle As Cost Of Living Climbs: CARP Survey
With mounting cost-of-living pressures, Canadians are struggling when it comes to planning and saving for retirement. A recent study done by the Canadian Association of Retired Persons for Sun Life shows that one third of Canadians struggle to plan for retirement and three quarters say their cost of living is negatively impacting their retirement savings. Read more.

Preparing For Mid-Flight Turbulence, Weather-Related Travel Issues
As unpredictable weather events continue to affect air travel, the experts at InsureMyTrip.ca, Canada's travel insurance comparison website, emphasize the importance of preparation. Read more.

In the InsurTech Spotlight this week:

Calefy
Calefy is fully-optimized, client-facing quoting software that improves the experience for brokers, MGAs and insurers. Our state-of-the-art technology helps take away the most tedious 20% of the insurance broker’s job. Calefy’s intelligent workflows automate the repetitive, manual data collection processes and put more time and money back into the hands of your business. Learn more.

Calling all InsurTechs! Click here to participate.

Featured job opportunities:

Insurance Claims Coordinator
Toronto District School Board
Toronto, ON

Adjuster (Auto)
SGI CANADA
Toronto, ON

From Doug Artificial intelligence is everywhere, as illustrated in recent industry news: • IBM reports that using AI for cyber security defence lowers the cost of a cyber breach for businesses and reduces the time frame. • Applied Systems has acquired an AI company focused on commercial lines in insurance with the intent of creating “AI-driven value throughout the next generation of the digital roundtrip of insurance.” • Rival Insurance Technology announced its R-Quote application for insurance rating and quoting, which “lays the groundwork for AI-driven features.” AI brings value, in some cases proven and in others a marketing feature. Who uses AI? Its potential is huge – and it is being addressed at all levels: • Computing manufacturers are developing AI-specific chips; • Tool developers have embraced AI. Gen AI (e.g. ChatGPT) brings new functionality, enabling an individual to use AI directly, without a data scientist intermediary. • Common tools we each use most days (search engines, weather services, etc.) increasingly employ AI. Both personally and increasingly at work, almost everyone uses AI. Doug Grant, CIP Partner Insurance-Canada.ca