Insurance-Canada.ca Newsletter Archive

Issue 2004-35:   Sept 21, 2004

This newsletter is for members of the Canadian Insurance Industry, and those who serve it. The newsletter is published weekly, and notes information mostly about the use of the Internet and related technologies in the industry. Some is international, where we feel it is relevant to Canada.




Claims

Crawford Appointed Claims Administrator by Peterborough Area Flood Relief Committee.

Crawford Adjusters Canada Chief Executive Officer Glenn Gibson announced today that the Peterborough Area Flood Relief Committee (PAFRC) has appointed the firm to process claims made under the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program (ODRAP). Crawford will be responsible for receiving and reviewing applications for compensation under ODRAP.

Insurance Search Bureau (ISB) Publishes an Easy Reference Guide for Claim Documents.

ISB has always worked closely with clients to provide resource and training materials which assist claim professionals in obtaining and using information. With your help ISB has developed the Easy Reference Guide for Claim Documents, a tool to assist claim adjusters in obtaining the critical documents needed in the handling of a claim.

Policy and Product Management

Configuring the Agile Organization: How to Reduce Time to Market by 50%: Sapiens Whitepaper.

Judy Johnson, Vice President of Insurance for Sapiens Americas, provides insight into the importance of a company's ability to respond quickly to change in the industry or market sector. By configuring products, services or processes, a company can meet customer demands or bring products to market in half the time needed by the competition.

Customer Service and Managing Relationships

LOMA and LIIC to Host "Customer Service" Seminars in Toronto.

LOMA and the Life Insurance Institute of Canada (LIIC) will host two seminars in Toronto that will help financial services companies develop service strategies. LOMA Policyowner Service Seminar will be held October 25-26; LOMA Contact Center Workshop will be held October 27-28.

Reference and Statistics

North American Life Insurance Activity Up 1.1% in August : MIB.

Applications for life insurance in North America rose +1.1% in August year-over-year marking the largest one-month, year-over-year growth in all of 2004. Year-to-date activity for the U.S. and Canada is off -1.1% versus 2003 in what, so far, has been a relatively stable year.

USA Life Insurance Industry Seeks to Reverse Declining Sales Trend: LIMRA.

After increasing in the first quarter of the year, the number of individual life insurance policies sold in the U.S. in the second quarter declined with 2 percent fewer policies sold than in the second quarter of 2003, according to LIMRA International.

CSIO Insurance Portal Status Update

Week ending September 17: : There are now 92 brokers signed up and technically integrated to the portal. Many more are in process.

Distribution

Empire Financial Group leverages SOLCORP solution to enhance product distribution through FundSERV network.

SOLCORP, a leading provider of software solutions to the life insurance and financial industries and a subsidiary of EDS, announced today the successful implementation of SOLCORP / E-LINKS at Empire Financial Group. The solution has allowed Empire to join the growing group of Canadian insurers trading segregated fund products through FundSERV, the leading network service provider for the Canadian investment fund industry.

Chubb Develops New Internet Based Tool for E&O Applications.

(from CI-ENEWS) Chubb has developed a new tool to help brokers and their clients save time and money when applying for errors and omissions (E&O) insurance. The application creates customized new and renewal E&O applications which are tailored to a clients' specific business operation. They can be submitted securely via the Internet anytime, anywhere.

Guy Carpenter Cited Reinsurance Broker of the Year in Industry Poll.

Guy Carpenter & Company, Inc., the world's leading risk and reinsurance specialist and a part of the Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. today announced that the firm was voted Reinsurance Broker of the Year in a reader poll conducted by Reactions magazine. Guy Carpenter received 32 percent of the votes cast and garnered 60 percent more votes than the second-placed broker in the annual survey.

Business of Insurance

IBC 2004, 4th annual, Regulatory Affairs Symposium.

The Symposium will feature a panel on risk-based market conduct and another on privacy. Luncheon speaker The Hon. W David Angus, will address "Lessons from Enron, Four Years Later." Toronto Sheraton Centre, Thursday Nov. 4, 2004, 8:45 to 1:30.

Manulife, Maritime Life and MFC Insurance plan to combine Canadian operations.

The Boards of Directors of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (Manulife), The Maritime Life Assurance Company (Maritime Life) and MFC Insurance Company Limited (MFC Insurance) - three separate subsidiaries of Manulife Financial Corporation - today approved a plan to combine their current operations into a single Canadian insurance business under the name "The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company." The merger would also result in certain changes to Maritime Life's outstanding securities.

Manulife-Sinochem receives Ningbo branch office license.

Manulife-Sinochem Life Insurance Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Canadian-based Manulife Financial, the world's fifth largest life insurance company, will open a branch office in Ningbo, China. This is Manulife-Sinochem's third branch license and the first license granted in Zhejiang Province to a foreign-invested joint venture life insurance company by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

eBusiness and Technology

Enterprise Technologies Help Insurers Turn Overwhelming Volumes of Content from Liability to Asset: TowerGroup.

While many industry sectors today are drowning in excess data, the US insurance industry is particularly overwhelmed by the sheer volumes of information it produces. In fact, insurers cite the management of content as one of their most difficult and unwieldy challenges.

Marketing and Market Place

Guy Carpenter Publishes The World Catastrophe Reinsurance Market: 2004.

Guy Carpenter & Company, Inc., the world's leading risk and reinsurance specialist and a part of the Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has released its annual, comprehensive study of the property catastrophe reinsurance market, The World Catastrophe Reinsurance Market: 2004. The report covers over 20 countries and regions estimated to comprise more than 90 percent of the worldwide market for catastrophe reinsurance.

J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Automotive Internet Users Increasingly Visit Manufacturer Web Sites First During the Shopping Process.

While the majority of new-vehicle buyers who use the Internet continue to begin their vehicle shopping at an independent Web site, manufacturer sites are making significant inroads in attracting Internet shoppers, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2004 New Autoshopper.com StudySM released today.

Consumer Information

Chubb Provides Tips For Art Collectors Before Lending Art.

The theft of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch's masterpieces, The Scream and Madonna, from an Oslo museum will lead to greater precaution by museums, cultural institutions and private art collectors lending art overseas, according to the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies.

IIHS: Huge Costs of Mismatched Bumpers: When Bumpers on Cars and SUVs Don't Line Up, Low Speed Collisions Produce More Damage and Higher Repair Costs.

Low-speed front-into-rear crashes occur frequently in urban traffic, and the vehicles often sustain expensive damage. Bumpers can reduce this damage, but only if they line up so the initial contact in an impact is bumper to bumper. Then the bumpers on the colliding vehicles have to absorb the crash energy, keeping damage away from expensive sheet metal, lights, and other components.

from Doug:

Enjoyed family visits, King John at Stratford, a day of history research and a 30th anniversary dinner for a heritage group on the weekend. A delightful time, with wonderful sun to boot.