Issue 2005-39: September 27, 2005

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.




Business of Insurance

FSCO's New Website Makes It Easier to Get the Facts.
TORONTO (August 31, 2005) - The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) today launched its redesigned website at www.fsco.gov.on.ca. The improved website makes it easier for consumers to get the facts about auto insurance, insurance, pensions and other financial services.

Advocis Protective Association Moves to Establish Reciprocal - New broker selected for Advocis Sponsored Plan.
Monday, August 29, 2005, Toronto: The Advocis Protective Association (APA), today announced that it will begin the transition to a reciprocal insurance model in partnership with its new broker, Willis Canada Inc., effective August 28, 2005.

After Katrina: What Now for the Insurance Industry? Report Published by Celent.
San Francisco, CA, USA - September 19, 2005 - Will Katrina change the insurance industry in fundamental ways? Have loss patterns changed from "small and frequent" and "large and infrequent" to "very large and not infrequent?"

Guy Carpenter Publishes The World Catastrophe Reinsurance Market: 2005.
New York, September 12, 2005 -- Guy Carpenter & Company, Inc., the leading global risk and reinsurance specialist and a part of the Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE: MMC), today announced the firm has released its annual, comprehensive study of the property catastrophe reinsurance market, The World Catastrophe Reinsurance Market: 2005. The report, which went to print before Hurricane Katrina made landfall, covers more than 90 percent of the worldwide market for catastrophe reinsurance.

Claims

"Interviewing and Statement Taking Techniques": ISB Claim Information Training School.
You are invited to attend the ISB Claim Training Seminar "Interviewing and Statement Taking Techniques" on Friday Oct 21,2005. This is the third in a series of regularly scheduled seminars designed to provide claim professionals with the knowledge and tools they need in conducting claim investigations. The seminar will be held at the ISB Corporate Head Office in Milton Ontario.

Manulife announces loss estimates from Hurricane Katrina.
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2005 - Manulife Financial Corporation expects to take charges in the third quarter ending September 30, 2005 of US$165 million after tax for the losses relating to Hurricane Katrina.

Distribution

CITS Project to support Life Insurance New Business Transactions is Underway
The purpose of this initiative is to develop implementation methods acceptable to key industry players and to get their agreement to implement transactions based on the proposed guidelines. This initial project is viewed as a proof-of-concept and its scope has been deliberately limited. In this project CITS plans to develop a Transaction Implementation Guide for data related to Pending New Business transactions only.

Manulife Financial to administer group retirement savings plans for Wal-Mart Canada Associates.
KITCHENER-WATERLOO, ON, Sept. 20, 2005 - Manulife Financial's Canadian Pension Operations have been awarded the administration and record-keeping business for the Deferred Profit Sharing Plan (DPSP) and Group Registered Retirement Savings Plan (Group RRSP) Wal-Mart Canada (Wal-Mart) offers for its Associates. The award means Manulife will become Wal-Mart Canada's exclusive provider of Group Benefits and Group Retirement Savings Programs for its Associates.

CSIO Insurance Portal Status Update

Period ending September 26, 2005:
West Wawanosh Mutual auto rates are now in production;
Trillium Mutual Insurance Co. is live with personal property rates;
Perth Insurance, part of the Economical Group, is testing its rates; and
Guarantee Co. of North America is joining the CSIO Insurance Portal and rates are being loaded and systems testing is underway at ISI.

Consumer Information

CIHI - Packed Lunches and More Physical Education Linked to Lower Childhood Overweight and Obesity.
September 13, 2005 - Children who purchased lunch at school were 39% more likely to be overweight or obese than students who brought lunch from home, according to a new study funded by the Canadian Institute for Health Information. The study, published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, also reveals that children attending schools with infrequent physical education (less than twice a week) were more likely to be overweight or obese than children who participated in physical education classes two or more times a week.

Fire Chiefs Embrace New Cigarette Regulations.
June 10, 2005 - The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC) today welcomed the news that Canada will soon become the first country to require that all cigarettes must have a reduced ignition propensity. CAFC was responding to an announcement that Governor General Clarkson had just approved a Regulation under the Tobacco Act that will make such cigarettes mandatory as of October 1st this year.

Ontario government brochure to help drivers avoid collisions with wildlife.
The Ontario government is improving road safety with a new brochure to help drivers avoid potentially deadly wildlife collisions.

Product Announcements

Allstate Canada Offers an Easy Way to Manage Your Pet's Health Care Expenses.
MARKHAM, ON, Sept. 20, 2005 - Allstate Insurance Company of Canada has created an alliance with Pethealth Inc. and its PetCare Insurance Programs to bring economic accident and illness care to the 55 percent of Canadian households who own dogs and cats. Designed in consultation with leading veterinarians, PetCare Insurance Programs are currently the fastest growing family of pet insurance programs in North America.

eBusiness and Technology

Open Text, InSystems Extend Partnership to Improve Speed-to-Market for Insurance, Financial Services Companies.
Chicago and Toronto - September 21, 2005 -- Open Text™ Corporation (NASDAQ: OTEX, TSX: OTC), the leading independent provider of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) software, and InSystems Corporation, the specialist in complex document and compliance automation for insurance and financial services companies, said today they will extend their eight-year partnership. The companies will focus on delivering solutions that improve document processes and regulatory compliance for insurance and financial services companies, while speeding time-to-market for their products.

IBM Contributes Business Process Content to ACORD Insurance Industry Standards.
PEARL RIVER, NY and ARMONK, NY - Sept. 7, 2005 -IBM and ACORD, the nonprofit insurance standards organization, announced today that IBM is contributing more than 100 business-process models, model definitions and other industry content to ACORD. The models come from IBM's Insurance Application Architecture (IAA), the company's insurance business and IT architecture framework. The donation will accelerate the development and adoption of business-process standards that in turn will help address some of the global insurance industry's greatest challenges.

IDC's Financial Insights Europe Predicts IT Insurance Spending Growth of 3.4% CAGR.
MILAN, Italy and FRAMINGHAM, Mass., September 21, 2005 - Global independent research and advisory firm, Financial Insights, an IDC company, today announced the release of a new forecast study, which analyzes 2004-2009 IT spending forecasts for Western European insurance companies

Banks Worldwide Plan to Overhaul Aging Core Banking Systems To Gain Competitive Advantage, According to Global Accenture and SAP Survey.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark; Sept. 6, 2005 - Banks worldwide are growing increasingly dissatisfied with their aging core banking systems and plan to update their core technology architecture to remain competitive, according to a global survey sponsored by Accenture and SAP AG. The results of the study were released today at Sibos 2005, the financial industry's leading annual forum held in Copenhagen, Denmark.

from Doug:

The media frenzy around Hurricane Rita fed gas supply concerns and hikes in fuel pump prices - one news report claimed a pump price in one location of well over $2/litre last Friday. Thank goodness reality quickly returned and on a trip to Eastern Ontario on Saturday prices were consistently just over $1/litre. It is too bad that some of the good contributions the industry has made to reduce and manage risk can't get significantly more media coverage. It is deserved, and under-recognized.


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