INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

World Insurance Report 2021
Capgemini and Efma's World Insurance Report 2021 finds that insurers need to rethink their distribution models to offer uninterrupted service, superior customer experience, and maximum value as the industry's business dynamics continue to evolve. Read more.

COVID-19 Has Accelerated Claims Automation
LexisNexis® Risk Solutions has released its 2021 Future of Claims Report, revealing how the pandemic has accelerated claims automation. The report includes actionable insights for auto insurance carriers to improve their customer experience and turn virtual claims processing into a competitive advantage. Read more.

The Tipping Point For P&C Insurance: PACICC
The Property and Casualty Insurance Compensation Corporation has released the latest study in its ongoing ‘Why Insurers Fail’ research series, entitled How Big is Too Big? The Tipping Point for Systemic Failure. The study examines the threshold above which some form of catastrophic event would trigger the systemic collapse of Canada's P&C insurance industry. to establish the 'tipping point' for systemic failure of the industry. Read more.

Quadient Launches Cloud-Based CCM Solution
Quadient is pleased to announce the global launch of Inspire Evolve, a high-performance SaaS CCM solution. The solution supports rapid enterprise transformation by empowering all employees, regardless of technical expertise, with the ability to control customer communications with little reliance on IT. With Inspire Evolve, customer communications can be maintained and delivered in the cloud by individual lines of business in the moment they are needed. Read more.

Crawford Technologies Introduces Video Bills
Crawford Technologies, a provider of innovative document solutions, and BlueRush, an emerging personalized video SaaS company, are pleased to announce they are partnering to produce personalized contextual video bills and statements. Working together, the companies are introducing the industry's first ability to deliver personalized video bills and statements built from data contained in any transactional document. Read more.

Speed To Market For Property & Casualty Insurers
Improving product speed to market is a common and perennial priority for insurers. Since product creation and implementation is a complex process that crosses numerous functional areas within an insurer, any part can have delays that can impact the overall process. In a new report, Novarica analyzes a study of more than 60 insurer CIO members of the Novarica Research Council. Read more.

Commercial Insurance Pricing Up 18% In Q1
Global commercial insurance prices increased 18% in the first quarter of 2021, according to the Global Insurance Market Index, a proprietary measure of global commercial insurance premium pricing change at renewal, representing the world's major insurance markets and comprising nearly 90% of Marsh's premium. The quarter is the first to show a fall in the average rate of increase since the index reported the first rise in global rates in Q4 2017. Read more.

CSIO Celebrates Innovation Through Standards
On Wednesday, May 5, CSIO hosted its 2021 Annual General Meeting virtually, bringing together industry partners across Canada. The meeting included highlights of CSIO's 2020 accomplishments and celebrated the innovations achieved through standards to develop the next generation of digital solutions. Read more.

InsurTech Investment Reaches All-Time High
As fundraising activity in the global InsurTech sector continues to rebound from its brief COVID-19 related slowdown a year ago, global investment in the sector reached a new quarterly high of USD 2.55 billion during the first quarter of 2021. The number of mega-rounds reached eight, more than any other three-month period, according to the new Quarterly InsurTech Briefing from Willis Towers Watson. Read more.

Mitchell & Whale Announces Bold New Strategy
Broker distribution continues to adapt and evolve in response to industry consolidation, customer expectations, technology, digitalization and more. To remain competitive in this fast-changing environment, Mitchell & Whale Insurance Brokers has announced a bold new strategy to grow into a top-20 national brokerage with $1bn in gross written premiums by 2030. Read more.

Sun Life To Acquire PinnacleCare
Sun Life Financial Inc. has announced that it has agreed to acquire Maryland-based PinnacleCare, a leading U.S. medical intelligence and health-care navigation provider with more than 170 employees and 20 years of experience. PinnacleCare will become part of Sun Life's U.S. Stop-Loss & Health business, the largest independent stop-loss provider in the country. Read more.

BIG Expands Into Western Canada
Billyard Insurance Group has officially launched their first national branch location in Alberta, making their mark on Western Canada. With over 48 established branches already serving diverse communities across Ontario, creating a nationalized presence was only a matter of time for the company whose vision is to “think BIG.” Read more.

In the InsurTech Spotlight this week:

Quadient
Quadient is the driving force behind the world's most meaningful customer experiences. By focusing on four key solution areas – Customer Experience Management, Business Process Automation, Mail-Related Solutions, and Parcel Locker Solutions – Quadient helps simplify the connection between people and what matters Learn more.

Calling all InsurTechs! Click here to participate.

Featured job opportunities:

Commercial Account Representative
Cowan Insurance Group Ltd.
Cambridge, ON

Personal Insurance/Private Client Services – Account Manager
KRGInsure Toronto, a division of RRJ Insurance Group Limited
Toronto, ON

From Doug Extending the Insurance Ecosystem The main players in the Canadian P&C Insurance Industry ecosystem have been working to enable digital connectivity between partners for more than four decades, approaching a half-century. Today with the ubiquity and stability of the internet, the acceptance of modern core systems and the growing use of API technology, the work continues, at ever-greater speed. At the same time the insurance digital ecosystem has been growing. From the 2021 ICTA nominations, two such examples. Charles Taylor Canada launched a unique and comprehensive Pollution Loss Database of insurance losses related to oil field incidents in Western Canada over a ten-year period. Dashboards give useful insights to adjusters, insurers, brokers and oil and gas companies. Opta Information Intelligence and EQ Works collaborated to create Opta Digital Edge, the only solution that connects the features of a property to its occupants and maps against their behavior in the digital world. The integration of Opta's Peril Score ensures the delivery of quality business leads to help carriers maximize conversions by delivering the right message at the right time. Two more examples of the growing insurance digital ecosystem. Recognize the winners at the virtual awards ceremony tomorrow afternoon. Register here. Doug Grant, CIP Partner Insurance-Canada.ca