Issue 2006-21: May 23, 2006
Consumer Information
Insurers Financial Group: Supreme Court Ruling: Social Hosts Not Liable for their Guest's Actions.
In a recent Supreme Court ruling, the court had unanimously ruled private citizens are not liable for the actions of irresponsible guests. Lobbying groups from different sides of the fence were awaiting the court's ruling on this issue.
Aviva Companies offer 10% auto insurance discount to hybrid vehicle drivers in Quebec.
Montreal, Quebec, May 10, 2006 - Aviva Insurance Company of Canada, Scottish & York and Traders General Insurance Company, all Aviva Canada Inc. (Aviva) member companies, are rewarding drivers in Quebec who choose to be kind to the environment with an automatic 10 percent discount on their Aviva auto policy premium.
SGI CANADA supports Citizens on Patrol.
May 08, 2006 - SGI CANADA continued its commitment to organizations that support crime prevention with a donation to the Yorkton Citizens on Patrol Program (COPP).
Progressive Insurance Survey: Boating Blunders.
MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio - May 9, 2006 � Most boaters will tell you a good day is a day out on the water. Unless, of course, they got stranded in a storm because they didn't check the weather report first; almost sank their boat because they forgot to put in the bottom plug; lost their dentures overboard; or dropped an anchor on their foot!
Claims
MSB Announces Successful IntegriClaim™ 8.0 Rollout.
LOS ANGELES May 10, 2006 - Marshall and Swift / Boeckh (MSB), the leading provider of building cost data and estimating technology to the property insurance industry in North America, announces its successful IntegriClaim™ 8.0 rollout.
Top Canadian Restoration Company Implements Leading Software from Xactware Inc., to Deliver Big Results.
OREM, UTAH, May 18, 2006 - Paul Davis Systems Canada recently rolled out the international version of Xactimate 24 and is already seeing results. Ken Robinson, vice-president of marketing and field operations for Paul Davis Systems (PDS), stated, "Our users are blown away by the graphical estimating as well as the flooring and framing tools."
Distribution
SunGard Announces Multi-language Capabilities for iWORKS Insurance Sales and Administration Solutions.
MIAMI, FL. May 16, 2006 - SunGard announced today the availability of multi-language capabilities for SunGard iWORKS NAVIGATOR Illustrations system.
Managing Relationships and Customer Service
Manulife launches investment and communications services to help pension plan sponsors fulfill governance responsibilities.
WATERLOO, ON, May 18, 2006 - Manulife Financial is launching two new services for Capital Accumulation Plans (CAP) as part of its continuing commitment to ease plan management for plan sponsors and engage plan members to prepare for their own retirement.
Marketing and the Market Place
Up In Canada Marketing Is Up: eMarketer.
MAY 17, 2006 - According to the latest Institute of Communications and Advertising (ICA) "Survey of Marketing Budgets", conducted by NTC Research, based on information provided by a panel of 270 senior marketing executives in Canadian companies, marketing budgets nationwide were revised upward in the first quarter of 2006.
eMarketer: Online Fraud Risk No Higher Than Offline.
MAY 10, 2006 - Since the early days of e-commerce, consumers have feared that their financial information less secure online than off, and, in most cases, they were right. Now a new study, from the Merchant Risk Council (MRC), shows that the fraud rates for online stores are now similar to the fraud rates suffered at brick-and-mortar stores.
SAS Survey: Marketing leaders rely on BI to improve campaigns and ROI.
GENEVA (May 17, 2006) - Marketing leaders across Europe make good use of business intelligence (BI) to achieve better performance and return on investment (ROI) from their strategies. This is the conclusion of a survey of executives at 350 companies in seven countries and across four industries. The survey was commissioned by SAS, the leading business intelligence (BI) vendor.
Reference and Statistics
North American Life Insurance Activity Off 2.8% in April: MIB.
Westwood, Mass. - May 04, 2006) North American application activity for individually underwritten life insurance was off -2.8% in April year-over-year, according to the MIB Life Indextm. Year-to-date (YTD), U.S. and Canadian applications are off -1.7% compared to a decline of -3.1% seen during the first four months of last year.
Conning Research: Expect Increased Insurance M&A Activity in 2006-2007.
(Hartford, CT) May 15, 2006 - Insurance industry mergers and acquisitions increased in 2005 to the highest level since 2001 and may foreshadow an acceleration of activity this year and the next, according to a new study by Conning Research and Consulting, Inc.
eBusiness and Technology
eMarketer: Canada's Digital Report Card.
MAY 15, 2006 - On Tuesday, I'll be heading north to attend and speak at the Canadian Online Travel Conference being held in Ottawa. At this event, suggestively titled, Online Revealed, I will talk about the state of online marketing and selling in Canada, including a seat-of-the-pants "report card" for digital Canada as it plays on the world stage.
Business of Insurance
Standard Life urges members to vote and have their say in the Company's future.
MONTREAL, May 16, 2006 - A Special General Meeting will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland (Head Office of The Standard Life Assurance Company) on May 31, 2006 to seek members' approval of the Board's proposal that Standard Life demutualize and float on the London Stock Exchange.
from Doug:
Forty-four years ago just after my family left the farm, we took a day trip on the long Victoria Day weekend to Ottawa to see the tulips. The whole weekend was hot and sunny, over 30C each day. What a far cry from the cool weather, and a few rain-soaked areas, that we experienced this year. In spite of that, I hope you and yours had a good long weekend. Now for the fun stretch until summer.