Insurance-Canada.ca - Where insurance and technology meet

JUNE 6, 2017

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INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

Cyber & Technology Top Risks For Insurers
The global insurance industry's ability to confront structural and technological changes is now the greatest risk it faces, according to the Insurance Banana Skins 2017 survey of insurers and observers by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation with support from PwC. Read more.

Many Canadian Firms Lack Cybersecurity Insurance
Canadian firms are ahead of the curve when it comes to cybersecurity risk insurance, but more than one in three have no cybersecurity insurance at all, according to a new survey by Ovum for analytics firm FICO, which reveals that even among those with cybersecurity insurance, fewer than 1 in 5 say it covers all likely risks. Read more.

Yearly Cost Of Cyber-Crime In The Trillions: Juniper
While spend on cybersecurity is increasing, it is not keeping pace with threats posed by data breaches, a new report by Juniper Research has found. The research forecasts that global cybersecurity spend will increase nearly by half by 2022, but data breaches will have cost business trillions in fines, lost business and remediation costs. Read more.

Innovation-Based Disruption In Personal Lines Insurance Will Drive New Business Models
Technology-focused investments are pushing business model changes across industries, and insurance is not immune to these pressures, according to a new study by Conning which examines the changes underway in personal lines and the potential impacts on the insurance business model Read more.

Slice Launches First On-Demand Hosts Insurance
InsurTech startup Slice Labs has launched their first on-demand insurance product to support the on-demand economy. The company has rolled out their on-demand homeshare insurance product to hosts using homeshare platforms like Airbnb, HomeAway, OneFineStay and FlipKey. Read more.

Autonomous Vehicles Will Create New “Passenger Economy” Worth Trillions: Intel Study
Intel Corporation has revealed the findings from a new study that explores the yet-to-be-realized economic potential when today's drivers become idle passengers. Coined the “Passenger Economy” by Intel, the study by Strategy Analytics predicts an explosive economic trajectory. Read more.

Willis Towers Watson & Roost To Establish Home Telematics Consortium Of U.S. Carriers
Willis Towers Watson has entered into an agreement with Roost, an innovator in smart home technology, to help the property insurance industry take advantage of the Internet of Things by establishing a Home Telematics Consortium comprised of U.S. insurance carriers. Read more.

XL Catlin Opens Political Risk, Credit And Bond Insurance Practice
To address continued demand for Political Risk, Credit and Bond (PRCB) insurance from businesses in Canada, XL Catlin has opened its first PRCB practice in Canada and appointed Marvin Azzopardi as Senior Underwriter. Read more.

FIRST Canada & Clearpay Partner On Payments
FIRST Insurance Funding of Canada has been selected by ClearPay as an exclusive partner for brokers to streamline payments. Through this strategic partnership, brokers are able to remit funds with remittance data for easier payment and reconciliation, eliminating issues with lost and fraudulent cheques as well as mailing costs. Read more.

Applied Systems Releases Applied Mobile 2017 R2
Applied Systems has announced the latest release of Applied Mobile, which extends access to policy-related information for all agency and brokerage staff, enabling a more mobile workforce to further enhance customer service. Read more.

The Co-operators Acquires Assurance Auclair
The Co-operators General Insurance Company has purchased Assurance Auclair located in Quebec City. The brokerage's portfolio includes personal and commercial insurance policies. Read more.

Echelon, The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group Sponsor IBAO
The Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario is pleased to announce two new partnerships in 2017: Echelon Insurance and The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group. Read more.

Aldergrove Credit Union In Strategic Alliance With The Co-operators
Aldergrove Credit Union and The Co-operators have entered into a strategic alliance to offer The Co-operators insurance products and services to clients in Aldergrove, Abbotsford, Langley and Mission, British Columbia. Read more.

New State Farm Smartphone App Adds Telematics
The all-new State Farm Canada App includes a fully mobile telematics insurance program, online services which allow you to manage your home and auto insurance easily, and an alert function to notify you of leaks or potential water damage. Read more.

Regulators Unveil Travel Insurance Reforms
The Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators has released a Travel Health Insurance Products Position Paper detailing its final recommendations to to enhance consumer protection and confidence in travel health insurance. Read more.

Intact Launches Discount Program In Alberta
Alberta drivers now have a chance to save up to 25 per cent on their auto insurance premium thanks to a new program from Intact Insurance which uses driving data collected by a mobile app to determine a personalized discount for customers based on their driving habits. Read more.

Canadians Renovating More But Spending Less
With average household debt and housing prices at record highs across Canada, a new poll by CIBC finds that a growing number of Canadian homeowners are choosing to renovate this year, but they are spending less on average. Read more.

What's going through the Intersection
of insurance and technology?

IoT as a Virtual Risk Manager
The Internet of Things has gone beyond a passive monitor of activities to become an intelligent nervous system for the world of devices and people. As a result IoT could be the largest opportunity for improving the business of insurance. Read more.

“Winning With Convergence”
SMA Summit • September 18 • Boston

The SMA Summit is an essential conference for insurers wanting to understand the magnitude of convergence and its impact on the insurance industry. Whether your focus is on business or technology ... or both ... this is a critical one-day investment in your future. Move beyond the “what” of digital, innovation, and InsurTech to learn “how” and “when” and “why” it will impact your company, and what you can do about it.

“Tales of Machine Learning,
Analytics at the Edge, and Deep Learning”

In this webinar on demand, Kelly Southall, Senior Analytics Solutions Architect & Data Scientist at SAS, will explore emerging areas of innovation within the insurance industry as a result of today's proliferation of data, affordable storage options and processing capabilities. Case studies will cover examples of:

Machine learning applications in P&C insurance via image recognition analytics;
Edge based analytics and the client experience;
Deep modeling and impacts on pricing.

Watch now.

From Doug

The psychological toll of another attack in the UK was countered somewhat, a day later, by the “One Love Manchester” concert – though it will have offered little solace to those directly affected.

Meanwhile, cyber attacks continue to grow, as illustrated by the recent WannaCry ransomware incidents. We hear ominous warnings of worse to come.

For their misdeeds, hackers are typically regarded as cyber criminals. What type of incident, then, will it take – thinking of WannaCry's impact on hospitals across the UK, for example – for a digital crook to be called a cyber terrorist?

Until such a day as terror and cyber attacks are a forgotten impossibility, insurance companies and coverages will continue to respond and evolve to help address the financial impacts of these events.

Doug Grant, CIP
Partner
Insurance-Canada.ca

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