Issue 2009-46 -- November 17, 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

Boosting Profits By Tying CRM To Business Processes Through Customer Communication Management (CCM): Whitepaper from PBBI.
Customer Communication Management (CCM) - synchronizing every link in an organization's communication chain - is about stronger, more profitable customer relationships, which can result in increased revenues, market share and greater customer loyalty.

Reliable, Online Canadian Health Resources from Equitable Life of Canada.
WATERLOO, ON, Nov. 6 2009 - Every day, millions of Canadians go online to locate general health resources and to find information about specific workplace concerns such as the H1N1 Flu Virus. In fact, a January 2009 Ipsos Reid study revealed that 70 percent of online Canadians visited a healthcare website in the past year, confirming the need for reliable, online Canadian health information and resources, especially during times of heightened health concerns.

Consumer Information

Employee Wellness or Bust: Whitepaper by Neil Rankin, Assessment Rehabilitation Services.
With health care costs and associated absenteeism cost rising, employers are realizing that wellness programming is a cost effective way to become more competitive and reduce their expenses. According to Statistics Canada, there are numerous issues contributing to employee absenteeism costs including: an aging workforce, increased occupational and non-occupational stress levels, pre-existing mental and physical health issues and generous sick leave policies.

The Joint Report is 30 years old - A handy tool in a collision: IBC.
SHERBROOKE, QC, Nov. 9 2009 - Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) and the Sherbrooke police department (SPS) have joined forces to remind drivers how important it is to always have a copy of the Joint Report of automobile accident in their car and to use it when there is a collision with no injury.

Claims

FINEOS Concludes Third Annual Global Claims Summit in Chicago.
Dublin, Ireland, November 9, 2009 - FINEOS Corporation, the global provider of innovative enterprise software solutions for insurance, bancassurance, and government, today concluded its annual FINEOS Claims Global Summit in Chicago, USA. This year's event, the biggest to date, was sponsored by FINEOS and selected key partners, and attended by representatives from over 20 organizations from the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Africa.

LWG Consulting Introduces New Website.
October 30, 2009, Northbrook, IL - LWG Consulting is pleased to announce the release of a new corporate website. Released in conjunction with the implementation of other customer-focused initiatives, LWG hopes that the new website will continue to enhance the overall customer experience for clients and visitors alike.

Accident Support Services Ltd. Opens Regional Collision Reporting Centre in parternership with Durham Regional Police.
Toronto, November 13, 2009 -- Accident Support Services Ltd., facilitators of collision reporting to police and the insurance industry, are pleased to announce that on November 16th, 2009 we will open a regional Collision Reporting Centre (CRC) in partnership with the Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS). There will be a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony with local dignitaries at 10 AM on November 24.

Policy and Product Management

AAA Auto Club Group Signs Agreement with CodeObjects for Their Policy Administration and Billing Software.
MILPITAS, CA November 10, 2009 - CodeObjects announced today that it has signed a contract with The AAA Auto Club Group (ACG), the largest affiliation of American Automobile Association ("AAA") clubs in the Midwestern United States, to provide them with new policy administration and billing software for various personal lines products based on CodeObjects? next-generation SOA-based architecture.

Distribution

Peel Maryborough Mutual Insurance Company selects Custom Software's I-Company Solution.
Virden, MB - November 6, 2009 - Custom Software Solutions Inc. (CSSI), a leading supplier of insurance industry software, is pleased to announce that Peel Maryborough Mutual Insurance Company (Peel Maryborough) has selected its I-Company broker integration product. I-Company includes CSSI?s industry leading I-Biz and I-Broker portal solution.

Advisor Online Behavior Studied in Wake of Market, Technology Changes: Kasina.
New York, (October 26, 2009) -- With the market turbulence of the last eighteen months, technology continuing to evolve, and advisor time stretched to the limit, understanding how advisors utilize the online environment to do their jobs is paramount for asset managers. Building upon its 2008 What Advisors Do Online study, kasina leveraged its partnership with Horsesmouth, an online advisor community and resource center, to survey 548 financial advisors regarding their online behavior.

Hub International Acquires Mones & Associates Insurance Brokers from Aviva Canada.
Chicago November 9, 2009 - Hub International Limited (Hub) announced today that it has acquired Mones & Associates Insurance Brokers Inc. (Mones), one of the largest personal and commercial insurance brokers in Western and Northern Canada with approximately $10 million in annual revenue, from Aviva Canada Inc. (Aviva). Mones also operates under the name of Arctic Insurance Brokers Ltd in select markets. As a result of this acquisition, Hub will expand its operations to the following seven new locations in Canada: Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Iqaluit, Whitehorse and Yellowknife. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Business of Insurance

Remarks to the 2009 Life Insurance Forum, by Superintendent Julie Dickson, OSFI.
Cambridge, Ontario, Thursday, November 12, 2009 -- Tonight I thought I would talk about the life insurance industry and how we are viewing it in light of the global financial crisis. The October issue of Global Risk Regulator noted that the life insurance industry fears that insurers could be, "dragged into a net of regulations designed for the banks at the heart of crisis when it's clear that insurance firms do not present a systemic risk on anything like the scale that banks do.

Sun Life Financial and National Bank of Canada: strategic partners to give clients more financial options.
TORONTO and MONTREAL, Nov. 12 2009 - Sun Life Financial and National Bank today announced they are forming a strategic partnership that will give Sun Life Financial advisors access to a wide range of National Bank lending products for clients, including National Bank's award-winning "All-In-One" account.

AIR Worldwide, the Met Office, and the Association of British Insurers Collaborate to Examine the Financial Implications of Climate Change.
BOSTON, Nov. 5, 2009 - Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide (AIR), today announced the results of its collaboration with the U.K. Met Office to examine the financial implications of climate change to the insurance industry. The analysis was sponsored by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) in a special report titled, "Financial Risks of Climate Change," which was released Wednesday at an ABI conference in London.

Marketing and the Market Place

Consumers Satisfied With Insurers: Insurance Research Council Study.
August 20, 2009 - MALVERN, Pa. - An overwhelming majority of consumers with auto and homeowners insurance are satisfied with their insurance companies, according to a new public opinion study by the Insurance Research Council (IRC). Ninety-one percent of respondents with auto insurance said that they were either very satisfied (61 percent) or fairly satisfied (30 percent) with their current auto insurer. Eighty-nine percent of homeowners said that they were either very satisfied (56 percent) or fairly satisfied (33 percent) with their homeowners insurance company.

Our People

Launch of the Canadian Insurance Scholarship Program lets industry professionals strengthen the future through recruiting high school students: ILSCorp.
November 10, 2009 - Courtenay, BC - Imagine an industry where nearly half of all employees are between the ages of 41 and 60. Imagine in that same industry that employees tend to retire two to three years earlier than workers in all other Canadian sectors. Current retirement projections in this industry show that 25 percent of this labour force will retire between 2012 and 2017.

from Doug:

On Monday, I attended an insurance company event to which their brokers had been invited. It was interesting to see how the event was managed and to meet the people from both insurer and brokers, discuss their issues etc. The day was made though when I met an east-central Ontario broker with whom I attended high school for three years, many moons ago. We shared a few memories.


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