Issue 2009-42 -- Ocotber 20, 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.




Distribution

Manulife Financial acquires Pottruff & Smith Travel Insurance Brokers Inc.
TORONTO, Oct. 15 2009 - Manulife Financial announced today that it has purchased Pottruff & Smith Travel Insurance Brokers Inc., a leading broker and third party administrator of travel insurance across Canada. With the announcement of the transaction today, Manulife Affinity Markets becomes one of Canada's largest providers of travel insurance services in the country, by adding almost 90 employees in two Pottruff & Smith locations in Woodbridge, Ontario and Ste-Thérèse, Québec.

Consumer Information

The one item you don't want to be caught without in a car emergency: CAA.
THORNHILL, ON, Oct. 1 2009 - October is car care month and CAA is recommending all motorists start the month with having one essential item in their vehicle, a good road hazard survival kit. Fully prepared motorists always keep essential emergency supplies in their cars at all times because a driving emergency can happen to anyone day or night.

New car seat safety website launched to save Canadian children's lives: Co-operators.
GUELPH, ON, Oct. 15 2009 - In celebrating the 10th anniversary of the award-winning Buckle Up Bears car seat inspection program, The Co-operators and the Infant & Toddler Safety Association (ITSA) officially launched a new ITSA website today that will help keep Canadian children safe on our roads. The new website, hosts educational materials including printable brochures, checklists and videos designed to help adults learn the proper use of child car seats.

Government approves SGI rate rebalancing and increase.
September 11, 2009 - The provincial government today approved a rate rebalancing that will see vehicle insurance premiums go up by an average of 4.2 per cent effective November 1, 2009. This is the first Saskatchewan Auto Fund rate increase since 2000. SGI Minister June Draude said that even with the increase, Saskatchewan drivers will continue to have the lowest average personal auto insurance rates in the country.

TIRF releases two new publications on fatigued driving.
Sep 24, 2009 - TIRF is pleased to release two new publications on fatigued driving. The first is a primer entitled The Facts about Fatigued Driving in Ontario - a Guidebook for Police and the second is a brochure geared towards the public, entitled, Fatigued Driving, Fast Facts.

Canadian Fire Chiefs Announce Pilot Project To Limit Children's Access to Lighters and Matches.
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, September 21, 2009 - A pilot project to limit the access that children have to lighters and matches was announced today by the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC) at its annual conference in Winnipeg. The project is a joint initiative between CAFC, Health Canada and The Arson Prevention Program for Children (TAPP-C), a program developed at the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health (CAMH).

Claims

Towers Perrin USA Health Care Cost Survey Shows Employer-Sponsored Medical Benefit Costs to Rise 7% to Over $10,000 for the First Time.
STAMFORD, CT, OCTOBER 8, 2009 - Against a backdrop of prolonged recession, U.S. employers will see an increase in their medical benefit expenditures of 7% in 2010. The cumulative effect of ongoing cost increases combined with the current economic climate are creating significant affordability challenges for both employers and employees, according to new data from Towers Perrin. The study findings also show that many employers are preparing to take action by embracing new approaches to benefit management that have the potential to fundamentally transform the current model of health care delivery.

Business of Insurance

Guy Carpenter's Annual Survey of Specialty Insurance Program Issuing Carriers Shows a Steady Market.
New York, October 7, 2009 - Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC today published the results of its fifth annual survey of specialty insurance program issuing carriers. According to the survey, the program administrators and managing general agents (PA/MGA) market showed little change from 2008 to 2009, despite the global financial crisis. Though the number of respondents perceiving a growing market has declined, the market outlook generally remains upbeat, considering the tumultuous market conditions.

Leading Governments Shifting Focus from e-Government to e-Governance Using New Technologies and Modified Service Delivery Models, According to Accenture Report.
LONDON; Sept. 30, 2009 - Leading governments are moving beyond traditional e-government initiatives to strengthen their relationships with citizens by using new technologies and modifying conventional models of service delivery in innovative new ways, according to a new Accenture report. Entitled "From e-Government to e-Governance: Using new technologies to strengthen relationships with citizens," the report explores the strategic intent driving many governments to leverage new technologies and identifies 10 e-governance strategies governments are adopting to strengthen the governance relationship.

Marketing and the Market Place

Making Online Car Insurance Shopping Easier Wins Progressive Two WebAwards.
MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio - October 1, 2009 - Two car insurance Web sites from Progressive that make it easier for drivers to buy and service their insurance policies or to find a local independent insurance agent recently received WebAwards from the Web Marketing Association. Progressive.com earned an Outstanding Web Site award and progressiveagent.com won a Standard of Excellence award.

Business Barometer ® CFIB survey shows national small business optimism continues on upward trend.
Toronto, October 7, 2009 – Small business confidence survey findings from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), the Business Barometer® index continued its ascent to 68.7 in September. At the national level the index shows a 3.3 point rise over its August level and, the highest since the first quarter of 2007.

Policy and Product Management

Future-Proof: Considerations in Choosing Rating Solution Platforms: Report Published by Celent.
A new report, Future-Proof: Considerations in Choosing Rating System Platforms, examines the decisions insurers must weigh in deciding between stand-alone and embedded approaches to rating solutions. The goal for the report is to enable companies to make better choices for their needs today and in the foreseeable future.

Reference and Statistics

As Insurers' Profits Plunge, Risk Managers Reap Benefits from a Competitive Market, According to RIMS Benchmark Survey™.
New York (Oct. 7, 2009) - Profits are sharply lower and tens of billions of dollars have been wiped from their balance sheets, but insurers continue to renew commercial property and casualty insurance programs at deeply depressed rates, according to the RIMS Benchmark Survey™, administered by Advisen Ltd. The survey tracks changes in insurance policy renewal prices as reported by North American corporate risk managers. Commercial insurance buyers are benefitting from low prices due in part to the global economic recession, which has suppressed demand for insurance capacity, prompting underwriters to compete for diminishing premium dollars.

eBusiness and Technology

South Africa's Financial Intermediaries Association (FIA) Joins ACORD.
PEARL RIVER, NY - OCTOBER 14, 2009 - ACORD announced that the Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa recently became a member of the association, further broadening the standardization of insurance data internationally. Standardizing data flows will streamline the communications process across this market and ensure the smooth exchange of information between industry stakeholders including intermediaries, insurers, underwriters, service providers, financial institutions, regulators and government.

Risk Management Technology Revealed: Aon eSolutions Global Survey 62% note savings in risk transfer costs as a result of using risk technology.
PRAGUE, 4 OCTOBER 2009 - Aon eSolutions, provider of technology-based tools that improve the management of risk, insurance and safety programmes, is today launching the results of its 2009 Global Risk Technology Survey at the Federation of European Risk Management Association conference in Prague, Czech Republic. The report shows how organisations are implementing, utilising and benefiting from their risk management information systems (RMIS), helping to shape and benchmark risk programmes against those of their peers. In turn, and most crucially, some 62% noted savings in risk transfer costs as a result of using risk technology.

from Doug:

Helping my wife - she may not agree that I am much help - do some Dutch research. I find it so amazing what one can find when you do some digging in the family tree. As an unproven (missing one link, in one area of early Ontario where records were even less well preserved than others) Mayflower descendant, the concept of who the Pilgrims has some interested turns for me. Having fled religious persecution in England, they spent several years in Holland before venturing out to America, and collected several other shipmates along the way. Arguably thirty or fewer of the Mayflower settlers were actually Pilgrims from England.


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