The Chronicle: Issue 2012-32, August 7, 2012


What's Going Through The Intersection of Insurance and Technology?

Policy Admin Systems Turn 50; But What’s Their Life Expectancy?
The Insurance Policy Administration System (PAS) just turned 50. Quite an accomplishment. But, is its long-term future guaranteed? Some recent developments and comments are suggesting that the Policy Administration System in its current, singular form might have served it purpose and that the future may belong to a more hybrid environment. We’d really like your thoughts.

Mobile Usage & Sophistication Rising; Banks Are Taking Positions; What is Your Strategy?
Use of mobile technology for increasingly sophisticated tasks is on an upward trajectory. Insurance professionals are participating in the uptake. A recent report suggests that banks are offering mobile applications with transactions, adding credibility to the channel. So, the question to you is, as an insurance professional, what is your organization’s mobile strategy?

The Intersection: Insurance-Canada.ca Blog
The Intersection

an Insurance-Canada.ca Blog


Business of Insurance

Accenture Insurance: Reaping the Benefits Analytics.
To gain more insight and value from their BI investments, insurers will need to go further toward the holistic view by taking six key actions.

RIMS/Advisen panel - Market transition offers risk options.
Market transition and a rising total cost of risk may create pitfalls for risk managers, but there's a bright side: it also lets them reevaluate ways to maximize risk benefits, according to panelists at a July 27 RIMS/Advisen session.

Quebec drivers pay 10 percent less over six years.
The Groupement des assureurs automobiles (GAA) released its 2011 Automobile Statistical Plan results on its new web site. The statistics analyze auto insurance premiums coverages in the province.

Canadian P&C industry sees 23% increase in net income.
The Canadian property and casualty (P&C) industry reported a 23% increase in net income compared to the first quarter of 2011, according to a new report by Swiss Re.

Claims

Higher awards for kids who lose a parent ?
July 27, 2012 - A jury award of more than $100,000 to each of two young children for the loss of their mother in a crash may have been high but was still reasonable, Ontario's top court has ruled.

Sue Me!.
Like it or not, Canadian society is becoming more litigious every day. In the past, it was popular for us to smugly sneer at headlines coming from the US about multi-million dollar settlements that were out of all proportion to the wrongs they were meant to redress: the apocryphal tales about too-hot coffee spilled on someone's lap, for instance.

Consumer Information

IBC congratulates Ontario government for its ongoing commitment to crack down on fraud.
TORONTO, July 27, 2012 - Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) congratulates the Ontario government on the latest status report from the Auto Insurafont-size: 12px;nce Anti-Fraud Task Force. This is an important step in the fight against fraud.

Big $$$ costs for auto Insurance Fraud.
How much does auto insurance fraud cost Ontario? While the exact figure is difficult to ascertain, Ontario's Auto Insurance Anti-Fraud Task Force is seeking to tackle the issue and bring the costs down.

Grandma and Grandpa are better drivers than parents .
A new study by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia researchers, published in the journal Pediatrics, examined five years of crash data from State Farm Insurance.

B.C. privacy watchdog probes licence plate recognition program.
A technology meant to help in the war on auto theft has come under fire, launching a review by the Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.

Ontario is cancelling old red-and-white health cards; promises 3 warnings.
TORONTO - Millions of Ontarians could find themselves without health insurance coverage if they ignore government notices to get a new health card.

Standard Life launches a website dedicated to the PRPP and VRSP.
MONTREAL, Aug. 1, 2012 - Standard Life launches a new website on the Pooled Registered Pension Plan (PRPP) and its Québec version, the Voluntary Retirement Savings Plan (VRSP).

Product Announcements

Intact Insurance & Keal Technology CSIO compliant e-doc solution.
TORONTO - July 30, 2012 - Intact Insurance and Keal Technology, a leading provider of broker management systems, have completed the development of an electronic document (e-doc) solution.

Technology

Usage-based insurance services for auto insurance industry introduced by Sprint.
As usage-based insurance (UBI) gains more momentum in the United States, wireless carrier Sprint announced that it is joining the pack.

Telematics Proves Indispensable to the US Insurance Market: Insurance Telematics USA 2012.
Insurance Telematics USA 2012 will gather the thought leaders and pioneers of the industry to carefully dissect and answer the critical issues that your business is currently facing.

Telematics policies in U.K. up 1,500% in three years.
Research from the British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) shows that 'black box' auto insurance sales have increased five-fold in the last two years and are set to reach 500,000 live policies in the next two years.


Joe's Corner:

The mid-point of summer has snuck up on us and we're on the downhill slide, days are noticeably shorter already (sigh...). Another indication that we're in the summer vacation period is that even the news slows down to a trickle and not sure about anyone else but I'm having trouble getting very excited about the olympics, even though we finally got our first gold medal. I get the distinct feeling that we pay a lot more attention to the winter olympics – perhaps because it's winter and more condusive to sitting on the couch and living vicariously through the athletes, while in summer we try to enjoy as much of the sunshine and good weather as we can. Forthose who have not yet taken our Telematics survey, please do so. Looking at the last article above, it's certainly coming to an insurer near you!


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