Issue 2002-17:   April 30, 2002

This newsletter is for members of the Canadian Insurance Industry, and those who serve it. The newsletter is published weekly, and notes information mostly about the use of the Internet and related technologies in the industry. Some is international, where we feel it is relevant to Canada.

Claims

Clarica announced it has provided $477,000 to help Canada optimize its rate of organ donation from non-living donors. The money will fund innovative projects at 11 hospitals across Canada that will share or extend knowledge about quality end-of-life care that preserves the possibility for organ donation. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/claims/canada/ClaricaOrgan200204.php

Auto Claims Revolution. By Barbara Aarsteinsen editor ci - Canadian Insurance Magazine. One area where so-called hub or collaborative technology is making inroads is in the handling of auto physical damage claims. The high volume of such cases as well as the number of parties typically involved in the adjudication process makes them a prime candidate for Web-based automation. Article at www.insurance-canada.ca/claims/canada/AutoClaim200204.php

Distribution

Lord of the Data: XMLife - a new electronic standard. By John Nicola, reprinted from FORUM. A handful of life insurance companies have banded together to explore the viability of creating a system to process life insurance transactions, similar to the FundSERV system used by the mutual fund industry. This initiative, called Life Insurance Company Central (LCC), would allow for all of the transactions in our example, in addition to others. It would create a central clearing-house for all information for all member companies. That means you would collect data from multiple carriers from one site. Article at www.insurance-canada.ca/distribution/canada/Nicola200204.php

Managing Relationships

SINKING HOPES: Facing premium increases and onerous insurer demands, hard-pressed risk managers search for coping strategies. By Anna Sharratt in ci - Canadian Insurance. Meltzer has been through three hard markets, so she brings considerable experience to the table. But, in the wake of Sept. 1, the rules are more one-sided and negotiations have lost their give-and-take. Submissions must be detailed to an unprecedented degree, premium increases of 300 per cent are common and the reviled terrorism exclusion abounds. Backed into a corner, risk managers have no choice but to try to take it in stride. Article at www.insurance-canada.ca/ebusiness/canada/ciSnking200204.php

Claim Service Found to Play an Important Role In Making Insurance Purchase Decisions: Chubb Group Risk managers note that claim service is a very significant factor in making decisions to purchase property/casualty insurance. Furthermore, an insurer's financial stability does not guarantee a high level of quality claim service. These are among the major findings of a survey of 400 risk managers released by the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies at the Risk & Insurance Management Society's annual conference. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/ebusiness/canada/Chubb200204.php

eBusiness & Technology

Canada Wins the Gold in Moving Government Services Online, 2002 Annual Global Accenture Study Shows. National governments significantly improved their online service delivery this past year, increasing the range and sophistication of eGovernment services for citizens and businesses alike, according to Accenture's third annual global eGovernment study, "Realizing the Vision." As governments progress, they also are demonstrating greater understanding of technology's potential to help fully transform the way they operate – both in terms of service delivery and administrative effectiveness, the report notes. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/ebusiness/canada/Accenture200204.php

Marketing

National poll suggests strong rebound in real estate, equities and mutual funds: Manulife Quarterly Investor Sentiment Index. The latest regular quarterly poll for Manulife conducted in March shows that many Canadians showed more interest in a range of investments compared to just three months earlier. Eight of 10 categories in the survey gained ground from mid-December. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/market/canada/ManulifeSI200204.php

Study Finds Many CFOs, Treasurers and Risk Managers Need to Do More to Prepare for Property-Related Hazards: FM Global. More than 50 percent say their companies are not well-prepared to recover from a "major disruption to their top earnings driver," and less than 25 percent of respondents believe their current contingency planning efforts are adequate. More than 75 percent of the nearly 200 respondents indicated such a disruption either would cause sustained impact to their firm's earnings or threaten their business continuity. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/market/other/FMGlobal200204.php

Statistics & Reference

Standard Life Canada announced today that for the third consecutive time it has been named the "Best Supplier Overall" in a survey of companies offering pension plan products in Canada. Conducted by Brendan Wood International, an independent financial services research firm, the study included in-depth interviews with over 100 intermediaries who operate on behalf of group retirement plan sponsors across the country. These intermediaries help the sponsors to identify their retirement needs and the suppliers that best meet those needs. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/refstat/canada/Standard200204.php

Policy Management

Sherwood International Secures Services Contract with New York Life Insurance Company. Sherwood International, the global insurance solutions specialist, has secured a new services contract with New York Life Insurance Company. This agreement builds on the multi-year Amarta license contract that the two parties entered into in December. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/poladmin/announce/SINYLife200204.php

Skills & Careers

Canadian University Top-Ranked in IBM-Sponsored ACM's "Battle of the Brains"
Students from the University of Waterloo were among the top three Universities honoured in the Association for Computing (ACM) International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) -- the world's largest and most prestigious computer programming competition sponsored by IBM. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/humanres/canada/IBMUofW200204.php

from Doug:

A bit more like spring with April showers closing out the month - May flowers seem to be all over the place here in Toronto.

We are always working to improve our site. A small current project will eliminate frames and change our page header. The first instance of this can be seen at our What's New section www.insurance-canada.ca/whatsnew/hot.php. As with most Web sites, there are a lot of things we would like to do, and we will continue to move along.