INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

Aviva Canada Launches New Parametric Excess Rain Policy With CelsiusPro
Aviva Canada is pleased to announce it now offers parametric excess rain coverage to help clients better cope with climate change, with the support of parametric InsurTech company CelsiusPro. Read more.

Aon Delivers New Earthquake Model For Canada
Aon plc, a leading global professional services firm, is pleased to announce the launch of a new probabilistic catastrophe model to quantify loss potential for earthquake risk in Canada, developed by Aon's Impact Forecasting team in collaboration with the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation. Read more.

Key Trends For Group Benefits In 2023
Continued mental health support, increased need for access to health care services, customer experience improvements driven by technology, and a heightened need for consultative, advice-based selling will be key trends in group benefits in 2023 according to thought leaders with the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association and Empire Life. Read more.

Green Shield Acquires Quebec-Based BCH Consultants
Green Shield, a leading integrated health services organization and Canada's only payer-provider, is proud to announce the acquisition of BCH Consultants, the second largest independent Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provider in Quebec. Read more.

IBC Urges Action On National Flood Insurance Program
Canada is experiencing more and bigger floods, wildfires and other natural disasters – all influenced by climate change – costing billions of dollars and putting lives at risk. Canada's greatest severe-weather risk is flood, and a public-private partnership is required at the national level. Read more.

Key Fleet Management Trends For 2023: Wialon
Telematics technology is ubiquitous in the fleet and transport sector, as businesses endeavour to optimize safety, efficiency and performance. As we traverse a tougher economic climate, businesses must be increasingly sophisticated in using the right technology to improve efficiencies. Read more.

Floodbase Selected To Provide Near Real-Time National U.S. Flood Intelligence System
Floodbase, the climate adaptation technology company that provides precise, near real-time data and analysis on flooding and flood risk to insurance companies and governments, has been selected through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate's Silicon Valley Innovation Program to strengthen FEMA's flood analytics capabilities. Read more.

Swiss Re Closes Second Alternative Capital Transaction With J.P. Morgan
Swiss Re has successfully closed a multi-year stop-loss transaction with funding led by J.P. Morgan. The financing builds upon an innovative hybrid transaction concluded last year, which was the first of its kind to combine bank financing and insurance-linked securities (ILS). Read more.

Tough Stand On Fraud Earns National Recognition
W3 Intelligence Research Group Inc., experts in the location and collection of online content supporting the defence of fraudulent insurance claims, is pleased to announce that its Social Media and Open Source Investigations was named winner of Corporate Vision's 2023 Canadian Business Award. Read more.

In the InsurTech Spotlight this week:

W3 Intelligence Research Group
Working collaboratively with insurers, industry partners, and stakeholders, W3 Intelligence Research Group Inc. employs award winning, qualified expert staff that has a direct impact on combatting insurance fraud. Augmented by an infrastructure of processes and technology, we assist in protecting insurers, stakeholders, and the consumer. Learn more.

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From Doug Like analytics, machine learning, social media, personalization, etc., blockchain burst onto the scene with great promise for insurance. Is its future now to wither, languish forever, or gradually become more than initially anticipated? The basic premise is that the distributed ledger technology has characteristics which would bring value to multi-party business transactions and processes. There have been numerous initiatives using blockchain around the world. One of those was the project by State Farm and USAA to prove the concept of improving the subrogation process between the two companies for auto insurance claims. Others range across a wide spectrum: smart contracts, IoT and Parametric insurance, consumer privacy, proof of insurance, credit scores, fraud prevention ... That said, any new technology carries the risk of project failures. These tend to be highly visible, e.g., crypto currency failures, or the discontinuance of the Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative (B3I) after five years. If the technology provides enough value beyond the costs, the small successful projects will grow, and more will begin. Doug Grant, CIP Partner Insurance-Canada.ca