Issue 2009-36 -- September 8, 2009

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.




Managing Relationships and Customer Service

PBBI Webinar: Maximizing Your Policyholder Communications: The Top Ten Best Practices for Legacy System Replacement.
Scheduled: September 22, 2009, 02:00pm EST. As competition increases and operating budgets continue to shrink, it's more important than ever for insurers to maintain the highest levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty to retain their key customers. Many leading companies are seeking to leverage new communication technologies to reduce costs and drive greater value to their customers, their agents and their employees throughout the enterprise.

Consumer Information

Attention Travellers! Annual or Multi-trip plans: Tour+Med.
Now a days traveling is a frequent occurrence; people go shopping across the borders, take a cruise, or a 1-week all-inclusive vacation like it's no big deal. So today it's more important then ever to have coverage on yourself while traveling outside of your province of residence. One of the easiest ways to do this is to purchase travel insurance on an annual basis. The plans are sometimes referred to as Annual Plans or Multi-Trip Annual Plans; which provide unlimited trips of a certain duration within a 1 year period.

Tornado in Mont-Laurier - Damages estimated at more than $6 million: IBC.
MONTREAL, Sept. 3 2009 - According to an Insurance Bureau of Canada survey, insurers expect to pay out more than $6 million to clients for repairs to homes, cars and businesses damaged during the force F2 tornado which tore through the town of Mont-Laurier, Quebec, on August 4, 2009.

Claims

CDRG Welcomes Erb Restorations Saint John and Magiclean Disaster Restoration Calgary, Notes Fire Retardant Concerns.
Erb Restoration Ltd is a division of Erb Builders Ltd a general contractor specializing in custom homes, new construction and renovations serving the greater Saint John, NB. Dedicated to the Calgary community since 1992, Magiclean Disaster Restoration Services mission is; to become the most highly sought after and recognized, Water Damage Restoration and Cleaning company in Calgary with their exceptional commitment to Quality of Work, STAFF and COMMUNITY.

Business of Insurance

Economic Climate Adversely Affecting Life Insurers' Financial Performance, According to Towers Perrin Study.
STAMFORD, CT, August 17, 2009 - The sluggish economy is negatively impacting insurers' financial performance and altering their investment and product strategies — particularly around asset/liability management (ALM) and hedging for variable annuities (VA) — according to data from the latest Towers Perrin survey, ALM and Hedging in Light of the Economic Crisis.

Distribution

The Co-operators and Vancity complete Vancity Insurance Services Ltd. transaction.
GUELPH, ON and VANCOUVER, Sept. 1 2009 - The Co-operators and Vancity today completed the sale of Vancity Insurance Services Limited (VISL), which was announced by the two organizations on July 21, 2009. Federated Agencies Limited, a subsidiary of The Co-operators, has purchased VISL, which provides home, auto, travel and business insurance in British Columbia.

Markel International To Acquire Elliott Special Risks.
TORONTO, Aug. 31 2009 - Markel International, a specialty property and casualty insurer, has today announced it has reached agreement to acquire Elliott Special Risks (ESR), a Canadian company that is the leading Managing General Agent in Canada. ESR provides insurance underwriting and administrative services on behalf of other insurers.

Willis signs commitment for Applied Systems Epic.
University Park, Illinois - August 13, 2009 Applied Systems Inc. today announced that Willis Group Holdings, a leading global insurance broker, has agreed to adopt the Applied Systems Epic™ agency management solution as its primary technology platform in North America for managing client transactions and servicing.

Online Shoppers Want Human Helping Hand: eMarketer.
SEPTEMBER 1, 2009 - Despite Americans' widespread adoption of e-commerce, sometimes there is no replacement for the personal touch. According to an August 2009 survey conducted by Harris Interactive for human-assisted shopping site IMshopping, 77% of US Internet users who made an online purchase in the past six months would be interested in help from a real person before buying certain things on the Web.

Policy and Product Management

Accenture and RSA Expand Existing Application Outsourcing Agreement.
LONDON; Aug. 19, 2009 - Accenture has expanded its existing application outsourcing agreement with RSA to include implementation of the Accenture Insurance Solution — Accenture's property and casualty product and policy management system — across RSA UK's personal lines business to help the insurer drive growth in this important sector.

USA Employers Face 10.5 Percent Health Care Cost Increases, Says Aon Consulting.
CHICAGO, Aug. 25 2009 -- Health care costs are expected to increase on average 10.5 percent in the next 12 months,(1) according to Aon Consulting, the global human capital consulting organization of Aon Corporation. Aon Consulting surveyed more than 60 leading health care insurers, representing more than 100 million insured individuals, and found that health care costs are projected to increase by 10.4 percent for HMOs, 10.4 percent for POS plans, 10.7 percent for PPOs and 10.5 percent for CDH plans.

eBusiness and Technology

Australian Insurance Industry Standardises with ACORD Members Vote to Adopt ACORD Messaging Library.
PEARL RIVER, NY - 14 August 2009 - A recent vote by ACORD members in Australia officially adopted the ACORD Messaging Library (AML) as the data standard for use within the Australian insurance market. This was a major advance in standardising data within the industry there and makes Australia one of the first markets to adopt and implement AML.

Marketing and the Market Place

Social Network Marketing Expands Sphere: eMarketer.
AUGUST 31, 2009 - Though social network advertising gets a lot of attention, it is only one of many ways marketers can reach customers on social networks. Social networks can be used for branding, improving customer loyalty, lead generation, direct marketing and e-commerce.

CFIB Business Barometer® - Economic recovery expected as national small business optimism rises.
September 2, 2009 - Toronto - The Canadian economy is making a turn towards recovery according to the latest business confidence survey findings from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). After mediocre results in June and July, the Business Barometer® index climbed to 65.4, its highest level in two years.

Insurance in the Community

Foresters and community partners volunteer to build new playground for Frank McLoughlin Co-Op.
Brampton, ON, August 29, 2009 - Frank McLoughlin Co-Operative Homes in Brampton has a brand new playground today thanks to a coordinated effort of 200 volunteers from ForestersTM and the community who erected the facility. This playground will serve the children of the community where previously there was old wooden equipment. MPP Brampton West, Vic Dhillon joined Tony Poole, President & CEO, Unity Life and President Foresters Canada Division, in acknowledging the tremendous contribution made by all the volunteers.

from Doug:

On Friday my parents celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary. I took the day off work, and took them to visit three of Dad's siblings in the Stratford area. We lunched with his younger sister and her husband, and then visited two of his three older brothers in St. Marys, one in his senior's residence and the other unfortunately in hospital at the moment - he is less than a month from his 94th birthday. Dad's oldest brother now lives in BC - he will turn 95 later this week. Baby brother, only 82, was away at the cottage. It was a good day.


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