INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

2020 Natural Disaster Figures: Munich Re
Global losses from natural disasters in 2020 came to USD 210bn, of which some USD 82bn was insured. Both overall losses and insured losses were significantly higher than in the previous year. The US share of losses was rather high, with natural disasters in the United States accounting for USD 95bn of overall losses and USD 67bn of insured losses. Read more.

2020 Tied For Warmest Year On Record
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) has revealed that globally 2020 was tied with the previous warmest year 2016, making it the sixth in a series of exceptionally warm years starting in 2015, and 2011-2020 the warmest decade recorded. Read more.

Insurers Streamlining Claims Processes
As customer and employee expectations change due to new technology and experiences with other industries, insurers are deploying advanced capabilities to create an advantage in service excellence and drive down loss adjustment expenses and loss costs. Novarica's report provides an overview of P&C claims systems, with detailed vendor solution profiles. Read more.

Zurich North America Launches Construction Weather Parametric Insurance
As severe weather events grow in frequency and severity, the risk of construction delays not covered by traditional insurance intensifies. To help fill this gap, Zurich North America has launched Construction Weather Parametric Insurance for project owners and contractors. This highly customizable policy doesn't require physical loss or damage for a claim to be paid. Read more.

On Side Restoration Expands In Quebec
On Side Restoration (Que.) Ltd. is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of Groupe Dijon Inc. In welcoming Groupe Dijon to the team, On Side Restoration strengthens its capacity in the region and will extend its service offering across Quebec, with plans to grow further in the province. Read more.

Westland Insurance Acquires Daysland Insurance
Westland Insurance Group Ltd. is pleased to announce the closing of the acquisition of Daysland Insurance on January 4, 2021. This acquisition supports Westland's expansion strategy to serve more communities in Alberta and across Canada. Read more.

Gallagher Acquires Cain Insurance Services
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. is pleased to announce the acquisition of Cain Insurance Services Ltd., based in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Read more.

Waypoint Insurance Adds Lynn Valley Insurance
Waypoint Insurance, Navacord's premier Broker Partner in British Columbia, is pleased to announce the addition of Lynn Valley Insurance, effective January 4. Founded in 1984, Lynn Valley Insurance focuses on providing home and auto insurance to North Vancouver residents, along with a commercial book of business. Read more.

INNOTECH Claims Working Group Presents CSIOnet & eDocs As Chosen Solution
CSIO's INNOTECH Claims Working Group is pleased to announce that it has chosen CSIOnet and the CSIO eDocs Standard to facilitate the claims notification solution. Utilizing CSIOnet and building on the success of eDocs, the INNOTECH Claims Working Group has endorsed expanding eDocs to provide claims notifications to brokers. Read more.

Evidence Mounts For Effectiveness Of Rear AEB
Front automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems have greater potential to save lives, but rear AEB is saving drivers hassle and expense, an analysis from the Highway Loss Data Institute shows. Read more.

Spotlight On Intersection And Railway Safety
Did you know that nearly half of all collisions happen in intersections, even though intersections make up only a fraction of the total kilometres of road in the province? Think about how many intersections you pass through on a given day, including controlled and uncontrolled intersections, four-way stops, T-intersections, rail crossings, and merging onto higher-speed roadways. Are you confident you know what you're supposed to do at each one? Read more.

In the InsurTech Spotlight this week:

HelloSafe
HelloSafe is an international online insurance policy comparison platform. It is a completely free site, made available to consumers with the aim of helping them to facilitate their choice of insurance, and to bring more transparency to the market. Learn more.

Calling all InsurTechs! Click here to participate.

Featured job opportunities:

Farm Technical Advisor
SGI CANADA
North Battleford, SK

Insurance Sales and Service Representative
Desjardins Insurance
Cambridge, ON

From Doug Leveraging Resources in Distribution Insurance companies continue to enhance digital capabilities across their business. Direct writers, and insurers who use brokers are all improving distribution functions to support sales and service. Brokers are doing the same, both in connecting to their insurer markets and servicing their customers, from lead generation to sale, fulfillment and later service. Personal lines products being relatively simpler and large in volume have led the way, but the SME market is drawing a lot of activity. As new digital players and ecosystems converge to offer basic insurance products, carriers and brokers need to evolve their digital capabilities and online user experiences to remain relevant and competitive. Whether by chatbot or voice, seamlessly integrating skilled people into the process to advise or carry the process beyond the digital capability is an area of potential advantage for both broker and insurer. A recent McKinsey article recommended “an overarching implementation strategy in which the capabilities of all channels are aligned toward the common business goals of acquiring and retaining business by meeting customers where they are. Now more than ever, that location is online.” Although based on a study in Germany, the analysis applies everywhere. Doug Grant, CIP Partner Insurance-Canada.ca