INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

Cyber Hygiene In The COVID-19 Era: Aite Group
Penetration testing is a widely accepted industry practice in cyber defense, but it is expensive, labor-intensive and dependent on highly qualified cyber professionals. Fortunately, a new breed of breach and attack emulation tools can automate and accelerate penetration testing processes at significantly reduced cost. Read more.

EIS, PwC Launch Intelligent Ecosystem Initiative
EIS Group is pleased to announce the launch of an intelligent digital insurance ecosystem initiative, in collaboration with PwC. The new ecosystem will combine agility with insights to enable market differentiation and deliver best-in-class customer experience. Read more.

CIO Foundations: Leadership, Practices & Tech
The pandemic has demonstrated to insurers how central technology is to their ability to function, and the CIO's role as become even more critical. In a new report, research and advisory firm Novarica provides an overview of key capabilities and areas CIOs rely on to deliver value for their enterprises. Read more.

SGI Switches to Xactware Claims Ecosystem
Xactware is pleased to announce that Saskatchewan Government Insurance is switching to Xactware's claims estimating, claims management, and weather analytics solutions. Xactware is a Verisk business. Read more.

CAA Launches CSIO Proof of Insurance Solution
CSIO is pleased to announce that CAA Insurance Company has successfully launched CSIO's My Proof of Insurance as its preferred solution for sending customers their auto insurance cards (eSlips) by email. The launch coincides with a challenging time when paper and in-person meetings are less favourable and digital tools such as My Proof of Insurance are encouraged to ensure safe and consistent customer service. Read more.

EQ, Opta Announce Best-In-Class Partnership
EQ Inc., a leader in location behaviour data and intelligence, and Opta Information Intelligence Inc., Canada's largest property location intelligence provider, are pleased to announce their partnership to deliver improved target marketing and performance capabilities for the insurance industry and other verticals. Read more.

Apollo A Finalist In Technology Impact Awards
Apollo Insurance Solutions is pleased to announce that Apollo has been named a finalist in the Company of the Year – Startup Success category of the 2020 Technology Impact Awards. Read more.

CBN Expands Membership
Canadian Broker Network, Canada's leading network of independent insurance brokers, is pleased to announce the expansion of its membership and the formation of a new Best Practices Group. Read more.

Protecting Children During Lockdown: Webinar
Player's Health is launching a webinar to raise awareness for children in unsafe homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many children seek refuge at schools or sports and extracurricular activities. With closings, cancellations and indefinite postponements, domestic abuse rates are on the rise. Read more.

Mitigating Flood Damage During The Pandemic
Spring overland flooding has already caused extensive damage in Alberta this season. Damage caused by floodwater can be devastating and tragic under normal circumstances, but the current pandemic poses many additional challenges. Ecclesiastical Insurance has published a risk control bulletin and checklist that outlines flood protocols to mitigate the property damage caused by flooding during the pandemic. Read more.

IBC Warns Over Flood Risk In Quebec
Spring brings with it the risk of flooding. In the context of the pandemic, Insurance Bureau of Canada is reminding Canadians – especially in Quebec and flood-prone regions – that it is important to prepare themselves in the best way possible and take certain measures to ensure their safety and protect their property. Read more.

Storm Insurance Launches ‘Give Back’ Campaign
Storm Insurance Group is pleased to announce the launch of its Give Back fundraising campaign to help support local Canadian food banks amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more.

Crawford Contractor Connection Launches Decontamination Service
Crawford Contractor Connection, an industry leader in contractor managed repair services, has announced a new decontamination service, part of their Environmental Hazard Services, to clean and restore sites in Canada exposed to the coronavirus. Read more.

Growing Benefits From ADAS Features
Collision avoidance systems are eliminating more crashes as the technology improves, according to a new study of insurance claims data from various BMW models. However, the impact of partially automated driving remains murky. Read more.

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

Betterview
Betterview's mission is to assist insurance carriers to better understand property risks and avoid preventable losses. Betterview accomplishes this goal in significantly less time than traditional methods (physical inspections, surveys, agent visits) and at a fraction of the traditional cost. Learn more.

Calling all InsurTechs! Click here to participate.

From Doug Until we have a vaccine against COVID-19, the challenge of managing risk and its impact is huge: balancing health and death against the economy. A near-complete lockdown allowed risk reduction principles (social distancing) and tools (PPE, plexiglass barriers) to be developed and applied. Now a gradual easing is underway, bringing new trade-offs. A relative, a single mother of a preschool child, works in an assisted living facility. A neighbour, eight months pregnant, minds the child. Her dilemma: “Do I continue working where I am needed, or quit to protect myself, my child, my neighbour and her baby?” At the Cargill Foods meat plant in Alberta, some 950 out of 2000 workers already test positive. Meanwhile, food remains essential. What protection would you need in order to go to work in that plant? Some friends run a small business teaching music in their home. They have five instruction rooms and several teachers. All teaching is being done through video calls, due to the risk to students, teachers and families. When should they consider restarting in-person classes? It is to our benefit that we have as much digital capability as we do, but when a physical presence is required, the risk is inherent, and the dilemma remains. What would you do? Doug Grant, CIP Partner Insurance-Canada.ca