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General Insurance Agents in Ontario are
reminded that they must have all CE hours in place by
September 30 in order to renew their
license.
As well, General Insurance Agents
in Alberta are reminded that they must
have all of their CE hours in place by October
31 in order to renew their license.
Call 1-800-404-2211 if you need hours. |
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Industry Briefs |
Canada's Top
100 auto insurers see loss ratios increase by more than
2.5% in 2006
According to a recent report by A.M. Best, loss ratios
for Canada’s Top 100 auto insurers increased 2.6%
as a whole in 2006.
In its statistical study, “Canada Auto, 2006
Direct Premiums Written,” A.M. Best says that
even though 2006 direct written premiums for Canada’s
Top 100 auto insurers amounted to $19.5 billion in total
(a 5.2% increase over the previous year), net loss ratios
slightly increased as well: up to 71.5% in 2006 compared
to 68.9% the previous year.
Across all lines, including auto, A.M. Best's study
shows direct premiums written in 2006 for Canada's Top
100 P&C companies amounted to $38.6 billion. In
terms of all lines, the total net loss ratio for Canada's
Top 100 P&C insurance companies represented in the
A.M. Best study was 62.4%.
According to A.M. Best, the following P&C companies
rated as the Top 5 among the list of Canada's Top 100
auto insurers, ranked by direct premiums written (DPW)
in 2006:
- ING Insurance Company
2006 DPW: $1.77 billion
2006 Loss Ratio: 60.7%
2005 Loss Ratio: 54.4%
- State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.
2006 DPW: $1.07 billion
2006 Loss Ratio: 67.3%
2005 Loss Ratio: 74.6%
- Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Co.
2006 DPW: $943 million
2006 Loss Ratio: 71.6%
2005 Loss Ratio: 71.8%
- Security National Insurance Co.
2006 DPW: $814 million
2006 Loss Ratio: 70.1%
2005 Loss Ratio: 66.1%
- Economical Mutual Insurance Co.
2006 DPW: $814 million
2006 Loss Ratio: 71.1%
2005 Loss Ratio: 65.6%
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Zurich Canada to Support SFU on Adaptation to
Climate Change Research
Insurance company Zurich Canada has announced it will
work with Simon Fraser University (SFU) to examine ways
to cope with the ongoing challenges arising from extreme
weather events caused by climate change.
The insurance industry is feeling the impact of increasingly
frequent climate-related events such as Hurricane Katrina
and the recent UK flooding, and Zurich is taking a proactive
role in response by supporting ACT (the Adaptation to
Climate Change Team), SFU's new adaptation policy planning
initiative.
The ACT/Zurich Canada program kicks off in May 2008,
and will bring together Canadian and international experts
to examine the science, publicize the issues and recommend
policy options for sustainable adaptation to government,
industry, and community leaders.
Global losses due to natural disasters in 2005 were
estimated at over $200 billion USD, with insured losses
topping $70 billion USD. In Canada, weather extremes
are causing increasing damage to property, crops, communities
and tourism. Last winter, for example, violent storms
caused power outages and a boil-water advisory for a
record two million British Columbians.
Natural Resources Canada predicts increasing numbers
of severe droughts, storms, forest fires and floods
with serious economic and social impacts; while the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fourth Report
warns that temperature extremes and heavy precipitation
events will continue to become more frequent.
Insurers coping with heavy costs of climate change-related
events see the need to examine the risks in order to
protect their customers as best they can.
The ACT program grew out of concerns raised by renowned
economist and SFU professor Dr. Richard Lipsey about
policy gaps in addressing adaptation, and is intended
to complement the mitigation and carbon footprint-reduction
planning now underway nation-wide.
Led by SFU's Public Policy program, with the involvement
of many SFU departments including Urban Studies and
Dialogue, ACT will generate policy options and public
education tools for adaptation to climate change-related
issues including extreme weather events, community impacts,
health risks, fresh water supply, crop and food adaptation,
energy production and distribution, new technologies
and displaced populations.
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Canadian reinsurance rates decreasing
In its annual review of the worldwide catastrophe insurance
market, Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC researchers
noted 2007 reinsurance rates decreased 2%, compared
to a 32% increase in 2006.
"The hurricanes of 2005 had no obvious impact
on Canadian markets, however, as many of the reinsurers
operating in Canada are branches or subsidiaries of
foreign reinsurers that were severely affected by the
storm losses, there was some pressure for higher rates
on catastrophe business following these losses,"
the report says.
January and July renewals – in the absence of
losses or increases in exposures – saw reductions
in the range of 5% to 10%, researchers added.
Researchers examined the insurance/reinsurance industry
within 23 countries in the report. Of the comments on
Canada, writers noted that the claims from the three
largest events (1998 Ice Storm, 1996 Quebec Flood and
August 2006 Ontario Flood) pale in comparison to the
claims and losses that could arise if a major earthquake
and related fires struck British Columbia, or Quebec
and eastern Ontario.
"The potential economic damage from a major seismic
event in British Columbia is estimated at $30 billion,
and insured losses could reach as high as $15 billion,
not all of which would be reinsured," the report
says.
The insurance loss estimate for a major earthquake
in Quebec and eastern Ontario is $5 billion.
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And the Winner is...
Please click play to view a message
from ILS Learning Corporation
Congratulations to Jerry Gamble from Surrey!
Jerry Gamble, from Surrey, B.C.'s Prospera Insurance was
the lucky winner of ilscorp.com's $200 promotion. When she
received the call from ilscorp.com with the good news, she
was happy, if not a bit surprised.
"How cool," Jerry exclaimed. "Wow, thank you!"
Jerry says she and her colleagues find ilscorp.com courses
very handy … and winning the cash is an added bonus.
"The courses are a huge help," she said. "They’re
great refreshers." While Jerry has her CAIB designation,
she says that the online courses are a good way to brush up
on industry skills and knowledge. "It never gets old,"
she said. "You always need something and it’s great
to go to the site and get all of the information you need."
In fact, she said the entire office is getting ready to take
ilscorp.com’s E&O courses again soon.
Does she have any plans for the winnings? "Well, there
are certainly bills I could pay … but I think I’m
going to go buy myself a treat!" We hope you do, Jerry!
Congratulations again to Jerry Gamble and thank you to everyone
who entered our draw!
New at ilscorp.com: Add external courses to your course
history!
ilscorp.com has added a new feature to the Learning Management
System which allows you to easily manage and view your CE
history, including any credits you received from another provider.
We recognize how important it is to have all of your records
together in one easily accessible location so you can now
add external courses to your course history at ilscorp.com.
It's easy: log in to your ilscorp.com account and click on
the "Add External Course Credits" link that is above
your ilscorp.com course history. Simply fill in the required
information and you can now see your entire CE history at
a glance!
ilscorp.com is constantly working to bring you new features
such as this to help make your learning experience as smooth
and as easy as possible.
Will Technology Help the Future of Hail Claims in Alberta?
While Albertans are well aware of the hail their province
receives, the rest of Canada is quickly realizing that this
is a very real – and expensive – issue, especially
in the insurance industry. Last year alone, more than 2,200
hail claims were filed through the Straight Hail program with
Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC), the provincial
Crown corporation that provides the majority of hail insurance
to Alberta farmers.
Wes Jones, Adjusting Manager for AFSC says that hail is one
of the biggest risks in the province, especially in such a
farming-rich area. "There's hail and hail damage every
year," he said. "But you see a lot in the Red Deer-Olds
area."
The summer of 2006 was particularly bad. "We paid out
more than $26-million in claims through our Straight Hail
program, making it one of the worst years in our 70-year history,"
said Jones. "Our loss-to-premium ratio was 94.5 per cent,
which means almost all money collected in premiums was paid
out in crop damage claims compared to 75 per cent or less
in a normal year."
Last year, in an attempt to expedite claims, AFSC introduced
hand-held computers to its team of adjusters. "We had
75 computers out in the field last year and are up to more
than 100 this year," he said.
The computers, each small enough to be carried through the
fields by adjusters, seem to be helping the claims process.
"It used to be that we'd have to go into the fields,
do counts, put it all on paper, transfer all of that onto
another piece of paper and then we'd have to get the farmers
to sign it," Jones said. "You'd be spending lots
of time and be dealing with lots of paperwork."
Now, an adjuster is able to input information directly onto
the computer and send the claim off electronically for filing.
"The turn-around time is faster, the paperwork is way
less and we're going faster in the fields," Jones said.
"It's tough to say and we're still trying to figure out
exact numbers, but we're getting about an extra half-claim
or so done a day now."
That extra half-claim or so per day will definitely add up.
With some farms as large as 15,000 acres reporting hail damage,
the adjusters have to inspect every claim in person. Jones
says that the claimant farmers are also key in speeding up
the claims process.
"If a farmer can take a look at the damage before we
get there and then show us, it helps the process even more,"
he said. AFSC pays only after a 10 per cent loss and when
a farmer ensures that he or she has actually incurred this
size of loss, it's likely his or her claim will be processed
on the spot.
Jones says that the combination of technology and the farmers'
help is working well so far. "It's definitely going a
lot faster these days," he said.
This year Jones said that AFSC has already seen more than
3,500 hail-related claims and doesn't expect it to slow down.
"It’s the weather," he said. "You can't
predict it, just deal with it."
Weighing your Options: The Pros and Cons of Attending
the Second Annual ILS Caribbean CE Cruise
We hope by now that you are aware of ilscorp.com's Second
Annual Caribbean CE Cruise. If you're still unsure about whether
to join us and other industry professionals from across Canada
for a week-long luxury cruise, why not weigh your options?
You may want to consider the following pros and cons of attending
the cruise.
PROS:
- You can earn up to 12 CE credits while on board the ship
- Attend the seminars on board and receive a free one-year
online ilscorp.com subscription to either General Insurance
or Life and A&S courses
- Enjoy basking in the sun, playing in the surf and visiting
five exotic Eastern Caribbean locations
- Meet and network with industry professionals from around
the country
- Take advantage of the tax benefits of this CE holiday
(but be sure to speak to your financial advisor about this!)
CONS:
- Miss out on shoveling your driveway in the early mornings
before heading to work
- Miss the artificial lights from your computer and overhead
fluorescent lights
- You'll have to endure stories and photos from your coworkers
after they've returned from ilscorp.com's Second Annual
Caribbean CE Cruise
- You'll have to escape the sub-zero temperatures for an
entire week
- You'll have to find all of your summer clothing again
Where would you rather be? Join ilscorp.com on board the
Second Annual Caribbean CE Cruise from January 27 to February
3, 2008. Space is filling up quickly so book soon!
For more information, visit: ilscorp.com/cruise
On Track Turns Two!
 It
was two years ago this month that the On Track e-newsletter
made its debut appearance to insurance and financial professionals
across the country. While some readers might remember a hard-copy
newsletter called On Track, in September 2005 ilscorp.com
decided to get with the times and present industry news, profiles
and features as well as company promotions, updates and information
in an easy-to-read online format.
Over the years On Track has kept on top of industry-specific
information, reporting on the aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina,
Canadian employment issues, privacy laws and reinsurance,
among dozens of other hot topics.
Thank you to all of our readers who continue to support On
Track and ilscorp.com. We value your input so please feel
free to let us know how we are doing!
An important note about accreditation
ilscorp.com is happy to offer over 100 Life and A&S courses
designed to help insurance professionals meet their mandatory
licensing requirements and receive the most relevant and up-to-date
information in the industry.
All our courses are accredited and are written by insurance
experts. Our text and video courses engage the user so the
learning experience is both interesting and entertaining.
For your convenience, we have made our courses available from
anywhere in the world where there is an Internet connection.
All Life and A&S courses at ilscorp.com are accredited
in all Canadian jurisdictions. Please view the Life/A&S
Course Catalog at www.ilscorp.com
for course descriptions, credit hours and accreditation details.
If you have any additonal questions about accreditation or
our courses, please feel free to contact us.
An important note about our e-mails
In order to ensure that you continue to receive important
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to your "Safe Senders" list.
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contact information. We value your privacy and ours. Please
don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or
concerns about ilscorp.com e-mails.
November 15: Last chance to purchase discounted CAIB
Exam Preparation Video Courses
ilscorp.com’s popular CAIB Exam Preparation Video Courses
are still available at value pricing! Until November 15, sign
up for any of the CAIB 1 through 4 video courses for just
$500.
The ilscorp.com CAIB Exam Preparation series is an ideal
way for students to get ready for the CAIB exams without the
hassle of traveling to and from in-class seminars. Each video
course is led by Todd Hochban, a long-time insurance educator,
and combines innovative instructional video with easy-to-follow
text.
Learn on your own schedule, at your own pace - all you need
is an Internet connection!
Work towards your CAIB distinction with help from ilscorp.com.
Take advantage of this great savings while it lasts.
Interested in a group membership or more information? Call
us today: 1-800-404-2211.
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