Issue 2003-4: January 28, 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.
Managing Relationships and Customer Service
SecureServe from Liberty Health receives more online enhancements.
Sophisticated plan sponsors, plan members and plan advisors are all continuing to demand specific online functionality that is both flexible and comprehensive, and delivered in a secure environment. The need for online self-administration for plan members, program management through flexible reporting for plan sponsors and advisors, and HRIS type of functionality for plan administrators has influenced these next set of enhancements that are part of Liberty Health's current release of SecureServe. More at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/ebusiness/canada/Liberty200301.php
Claims
Kingsway is up and Rolling with ClaimPath from Castek.
Kingsway General has now handled over five hundred claims using Castek's ClaimsPath eCommunication Platform. "ClaimsPath is the E-solution to vendor management. As part of Kingsway's growing initiatives and quest for service excellence, we have adopted the ClaimsPath technology to create an environment that encourages effective communication, efficient claim controls, and a heightened degree of service" states Matthew Turack, Kingsway's Special Projects Supervisor. More at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/claims/announce/ClaimPath200301.php
Accident Support Services Ltd. to Open Collision Reporting Center with Belleville Police Services.
Accident Support Services Ltd., Facilitators of Collision Reporting to the Insurance Industry, is pleased to announce that on March 31, 2003 we will open a Collision Reporting Centre with the Belleville Police Service. More at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/claims/announce/AccSupp200301.php
Considerations in New York Automobile Accident Cases: Burgio, Kita & Curvin.
No Recovery for First $50,000 (U.S.) in Combined Medical Expenses/Lost Wages in New York Automobile Accident Cases. New York has a comprehensive "no-fault" statutory scheme which is applicable to automobile accidents. Under that scheme, there is no right of recovery for "basic economic loss". More at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/claims/other/BurgioNY200301.php
CSIO Insurance Portal Status Update
Week ending January 24: The number of brokers connected to the Portal remains at 22.
For Ontario Auto rates: Scottish and York is in production; ISI has completed systems testing for Western; ISI loaded rates for Farmers Mutual Lindsay.
For Ontario Property rates: CGU has completed User Acceptance Testing; Traders and Scottish & York are doing User Acceptance Testing; Dominion and Chieftan have completed User Acceptance testing; ISI is doing Systems Testing for West Wawanosh Mutual.
Rates for several other provinces have been received by ISI from CGU, Dominion and ING.
CSIO Announces Marshall Lee as Director, Portal Operations.
CSIO announced the hiring of Marshall Lee as Director, Portal Operations. Marshall's mandate will be to manage the delivery of Portal services across Canada from region to region. More at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/distribution/canada/CSIOMLee200301.php
Statistics and Reference
Ontario Auto Insurance Rates for Fourth Quarter 2002: FSCO.
Ontario private passenger auto insurance rates rose during the fourth quarter, October 1, 2002 to December 31, 2002. The rate applications approved indicate an average increase of 9.2 per cent, when weighted by market share for those insurers making rate changes. More at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/refstat/canada/FSCOAuto200301.php
Insurance Business
Insurance Leaders Expect Improvement in Profitability of USA P/C Insurance Industry for 2003: Ins. Info. Inst.
Leaders of the property/casualty insurance industry expect an improvement in profitability for 2003 compared with last year, according to a survey conducted by the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) at its seventh annual Property/Casualty Insurance Joint Industry Forum, held here. More at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/business/other/IIIProfit200301.php
Consumer Information
Let's Talk Insurance Pricing: from Markel Insurance. (for trucking insurance, applies to most commercial and personal P&C Insurance.)
We at Markel know that as a carrier you are facing tough times today. We also know that insurance is one of your major costs of doing business, and that you likely have concerns at present, after hearing repeated reports of the rising premiums facing some carriers today. This is no doubt a sensitive issue, but as Canada's leader in trucking insurance, we aren't going to back away from the challenge of addressing it - we feel it is the job of a market leader to step up and explain what factors are creating this difficult environment and to assist you in dealing with it in any way we can. Article at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/consinfoauto/Pricing2003.php
New safe driving program hits objectives - "Perfect driving": I Promise Program.
That's the first and only report on driver behavior received in the first year of operation of a new teen safe driving initiative available across North America. "It fits with our goal to prevent 'em, not catch 'em," says Gary Direnfeld, founder and director of the I Promise Program. Article at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/consinfoauto/IProm200301.php
Stolen Vehicles Returned from China; New relationship key: IBC.
A new international relationship between the Chinese Intelligence Bureau (CIB) Hong Kong Police Force and Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) has resulted in the successful repatriation of 17 Audi vehicles stolen from the Greater Toronto Area region. More at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/consinfoauto/IBCChina200301.php
Skills and Careers
The 2002 Fall Semester Marks Release – A New Milestone for The Insurance Institute of Canada.
The Institute is making available the marks to the Fall Session 2002 (which ended on December 6th 2002) on Saturday January 11th, 2003, or five weeks after exam week. The marks are made available via The Institute's Web site at www.iic-iac.org, by IVR and by mail. More at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/humanres/announce/IIC200301.php
Insurance in the Community
A Safer Community is My Business Too! – The Co-operators.
As the national sponsor of the Block Parent Program of Canada, The Co-operators is proud to help expand the Block Parent safety network through its agent offices. More at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/humanres/community/opBPP200301.php
from Doug:
The cold weather persists and we discovered that the new high efficiency furnace we installed last spring isn't quite as big as it should have been; we had to fall back on some supplementary heat a couple of times last week. That said we are now one-sixth of the way from the shortest day of the year to the longest one - anyone else ready for spring?