Issue 2006-33: August 15, 2006
Consumer Information
Declining death rates due to safer vehicles, not better drivers or improved roadways: IIHS.
ARLINGTON, VA - ARLINGTON, VA - The designs of passenger vehicles have been improving for years, becoming more protective of their occupants in crashes. Without these improvements, the motor vehicle death rate per registered vehicle would have stopped declining in 1994 and started going up. This is the main finding of a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
ICBC uncovers alleged Total Theft Ring.
August 3, 2006 - ICBC filed a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court against 22 defendants who were allegedly involved in fraudulent insurance claims involving motor vehicle thefts. According to the Statement of Claim, between June 1, 2001 and November 13, 2004, the 22 defendants were directly or indirectly involved in 25 vehicle theft claims.
Protect Your Home and Your Identity, Warns the I.I.I.
NEW YORK, July 31, 2006 - Burglars who break into your home this summer could steal more than your jewelry and electronic equipmentthey may also be after your identity. When you leave on vacation, protect yourself against a physical or a virtual break-in, warns the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).
Claims
CIHI: Few Canadians hospitalized with a spinal cord injury go back to work shortly after rehabilitation.
July 11, 2006 - New analysis released today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) paints a picture of what life is like during and after inpatient rehabilitation following a traumatic spinal cord injury. Between 2000 and 2004, Canadians admitted to inpatient rehabilitation with a traumatic spinal cord injury stayed an average of 59 days, compared to 35 and 14 days for stroke and orthopaedic rehabilitation patients, respectively.
Distribution
Industry Confidence in Worksite/Voluntary Market is Up According to the Mid-Year Survey by Eastbridge Consulting Group.
AVON, CONNECTICUT, USA (July 27, 2006) - The voluntary/worksite industry confidence index is up slightly at 101.2 (December 2005 = 100). This is based on the latest version of The Worksite/Voluntary Industry Confidence Index, a Frontline Report published semi-annually by Eastbridge Consulting Group, Inc. The study includes responses from individuals active in the market and includes carriers, brokers, and vendors.
eBusiness and Technology
Managing Vendor Selection For Vertical Enterprise Applications: Report Published by Celent.
Boston, MA, USA - August 7, 2006 - Despite the fact that most financial institutions depend on vertical enterprise applications (pricing engines, core banking systems, order management systems, policy administration systems, etc.) supplied by vendors, many continue to be ineffective and inefficient at selecting vendor solutions, and the process of systems replacement or addition, already stressful, becomes further laden with fear, uncertainty, and doubtnot to mention excessive and complex documentation which impedes the process rather than assisting it.
Gartner Identifies Top 5 Steps to Dramatically Limit Data Loss and Information Leaks.
STAMFORD, Conn., August 7, 2006 - Public exposure of private data is becoming a regular occurrence, but the majority of these incidents can be prevented if companies implement the proper security best practices, according to Gartner, Inc. Gartner analysts have identified the top 5 steps to prevent data loss and information leaks.
The Four Leading Content Management Vendors Remain at the Top, But IDC Reveals a Shift in the Ranks.
FRAMINGHAM, Mass., August 8, 2006 - According to a newly released IDC study, the same four vendors that led the content management market two years ago still lead it today, although their individual rankings have changed. The study, which presents vendor shares for over 50 worldwide content management vendors, reveals that EMC's acquisition of Captiva catapulted the company into the top spot. FileNet, IBM, and Open Text rank second, third, and fourth, respectively.
Policy and Product Management
ISO: Who Drives that Car? Where is it Driven? New Analytics Tool Enables Auto Insurers to Identify Missing Operators, Unstated Business Usage.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, July 10, 2006 Quality Planning Corporation (QPC), the Rating Integrity Solutions Company, has introduced a new data analytics product that uncovers costly insurance premium rating anomalies by comparing an insurer's rating information with thousands of independent data sources.
Business of Insurance
Prices Up, Capacity Down for Catastrophe Exposures, Other Commercial Markets Soften, CIAB Survey Shows.
WASHINGTON - Premium prices are escalating and capacity is shrinking for catastrophe-exposed property, but for other commercial lines, the market is soft as carriers compete for non-catastrophe risks, according to the latest commercial property/casualty insurance market index survey by The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers.
Guy Carpenter's GCFacT Unit Launches Structured Risk Finance Group.
New York and London, August 7, 2006 - Guy Carpenter & Company, Inc., the leading global risk and reinsurance specialist and a part of the Marsh & McLennan Companies, announced today that its dedicated facultative reinsurance unit, GCFac, has launched a Risk Finance Team to originate, execute and manage structured risk programs.
from Doug:
Ten days of R&R took us from Calgary to Vancouver via Banff, Jasper, Yoho etc and ended with a BC wedding in a forest glade on the Sunshine Coast. Our two boys came along for the trip. It was great to see more of our country's great scenery, from Banff to the Columbia Icefields, from Mountain sheep and goats to elk, from Takakkaw falls to Hell's Gate. Time to catch up with family and meet friends of the bride and groom at the wedding. On the ferry ride, a cheery hi from an insurance industry acquaintance from the The Econonical in Waterloo proved that a bit of home is always close at hand. A good trip, but it is hard to get back at it this morning.