INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

Breathe Life Releases Digital Distribution Kit
Breathe Life is pleased to announce the immediate availability of a digital insurance distribution kit that enables advisors to support both new and existing clients while working remotely. The Breathe Life digital insurance distribution kit can be deployed remotely to support advisors and their customers during these unprecedented times. Read more.

Lloyd's Lab Selects Boxx For Fourth Cohort
Lloyd's has selected twelve new InsurTech disruptors, including Canadian BOXX Insurance, to join the global (re)insurance market's innovation accelerator, Lloyd's Lab, as part of its commitment to becoming the most technologically advanced insurance marketplace in the world. Read more.

Apollo Exchange Adds Cyber Insurance Package
Apollo is pleased to announce that best-in-class cyber liability insurance coverage from AXIS Insurance is now available to brokers on the Apollo Exchange. The product can be accessed through Apollo's Broker Portal, or cross-sold in an email campaign by leveraging the white-labeled, consumer-facing version of Apollo's platform. Read more.

Beazley Launches Virtual Care Insurance In Canada
Specialist insurer Beazley is pleased to announce it has launched Virtual Care, which provides comprehensive insurance protection against risks associated with technology-enabled healthcare and lifestyle management services, in Canada. Read more.

A Participant Liability White Paper
Player's Health, in collaboration with Dolden Wallace Folick LLP, has prepared a white paper that addresses participant legal liability and the associated risk management and insurance issues facing sports and recreation organizations in Canada. Read more.

ACORD Releases Next-Gen Digital Standards
ACORD, the global standards-setting body for the insurance industry, today announced the release of Version 1.0 of its Next-Generation Digital Standards for insurance data exchange. Developed in partnership with leading industry organizations, the Standards enable omnichannel information exchange using fine-grained business transactions. Read more.

Young Agents Leveraging Technology For CX
As the number of direct-to-consumer insurance offerings continues to increase, the next generation of insurance agents must either follow the traditional strategies to market, sell, and service their business, or they must explore new options. In a new report, Novarica provides insights from discussions with members of a community of high-performing insurance producers under the age of 40. Read more.

P&C Core Systems Competitive Landscape
Core system vendors are forced to deal with a shifting property & casualty insurance landscape while serving carrier clients that might be resistant to change. Striking the balance between keeping up with an evolving industry and ensuring that all of carriers' present needs are met poses a conundrum for these vendors. Aite Group's latest report examines how core system vendors must position themselves with carriers in order to win their business. Read more.

Rising Losses From Severe Weather Events
The latest sigma report from Swiss Re Institute reveals global warming will lead to growing intensity and frequency of severe weather events, but also to more uncertainty in their assessment. Economic and insured losses resulting from such events will rise in the coming decades, and this presents a major threat to global resilience. Read more.

HONK Updates Roadside Assistance App
HONK Technologies, the platform connecting drivers, towing professionals and insurers, has updated its touchless claims mobile roadside assistance app with artificial intelligence to increase ease of use and accelerate response times. Read more.

INSURANCE & CORONAVIRUS NEWS

Gore Mutual Introduces Customer Care Package
Gore Mutual Insurance Company has announced its Customer Care Package to provide much needed support for policyholders during this unprecedented time. Read more.

Desjardins Announces Auto Insurance Refund
Desjardins General Insurance is offering refunds on auto insurance premiums for Personal and Business clients who are staying at home. This refund will be offered to clients who have lost their jobs or whose commuting habits have significantly changed amid the pandemic and who are only using their vehicles for essential trips to such places as the pharmacy or grocery store. Read more.

Aon Web App Forecasts COVID-19 Workforce Impact
Aon plc has unveiled an interactive web application that forecasts the impact of COVID-19 on employee populations throughout the U.S. Aon designed the tool to help employers anticipate medical costs, absenteeism and potential needs to shift work operations due to the spread of COVID-19. Read more.

We asked some of the Young Insurance Professionals of Toronto for their outlook on the industry...

Q: How do you see the upcoming technology landscape changing the insurance industry or propelling it into the future?

A: As technology advances, the ability for the insurer to manage risk and monitor the insured increases. Naturally, this means insurance companies will trust their policyholders. With the use of technology, I believe the majority of data collection for the insurer will be conducted by the insured directly – eliminating the need for a third party for collection (e.g., an independent adjuster or appraiser). In property insurance, quantifying a loss with the use of photographs, drone technology and 3D imaging is becoming increasingly common. If this trend continues, I see the need for a full-service contractor becoming less of a requirement. Contractors will be primarily used for emergency (mitigation) work, with a desk adjuster indemnifying the insured for the repairs based on 3D renderings or photographs. This is a minute example of how a small change with the use of technology can have a massive impact on our industry.

The InsurTech Spotlight features insurance practitioners and InsurTech(nology) providers which are – or are becoming – InsurTechs. In the spotlight this week are:

Collision Sciences
Collision Sciences provides information intelligence to insurers to help improve claim outcomes. Collision Sciences has developed an app-based EDR tool and "black box to cloud" data science solution that enables insurers to collect and utilize factual data for any motor vehicle loss. Collision Sciences provides easy-to-read PDF reports and the option to ingest raw crash data for customer's internal data science purposes. Learn more.

Calling all InsurTechs! Click here to participate.

The Broker’s Workstation (TBW) is an all-in-one broker BMS solution from CSSI. TBW features real-time rating and data exchange for faster, more effective quoting.

See how CSSI's Broker and MGA solutions can make your business more efficient.

Improving Auto Claims With Analytics
Free webinar now available on-demand

Within auto claims, determining whether a vehicle is repairable or should be scrapped can be a very stressful period for customer and adjuster.

Watch now to hear about how Aviva Canada tackled this issue by integrating real-time predictive analytics into the process.

Featuring:

From Doug The “new normal” ... ? I was skeptical when I heard people discussing a “return to normal” within a couple of weeks. Last week, the prime minister suggested that first we would need a vaccine – they say 18 months. Allowing for a period to vaccinate some 20 million Canadians, we might return to “normal” sometime in early 2022 – that really hit me. Can we live and work for that long in our current lockdown? Can we survive even six months like the last three weeks? My wife and I are at this point in a very fortunate situation – in good health, close to everything we need, with no financial worries. But we must be in a rather small segment of the population. I think about families with children, people whose expenses nearly equal their income, individuals with health issues, small businesses, and more. Thankfully people are stepping up to help out: continuing in their jobs to provide essential services, assisting others informally as needed, and making whatever contribution they can. Prognosticators say the new normal will be different; it seems to me we already have a different normal to live with in the meantime. Let's take it one day at a time. Doug Grant, CIP Partner Insurance-Canada.ca