Alberta Life/Accident & Sickness agents are reminded
they must have all CE hours in place by February 15
in order to renew their license.
Call
1-800-404-2211 if you need hours.
Each
provincial Insurance Council has daily maximum continuing
education credit hour limits. In most cases, the Councils
maintain that a student cannot take more than six
to eight credit hours per day.
For example, in British Columbia, the maximum is
six hours per day. For more information about the
maximum credit hours allowed in your province, contact
your Insurance Council.
Industry Briefs
Canadians optimistic about economy; less so with personal
finances
A recent poll suggests that most Canadians are feeling
optimistic about the country's economy though
are decidedly less optimistic when it comes to their
own personal finances.
The poll, conducted by the Pollara polling company
in early December, asked 1,260 Canadians about their
feelings on current economic standings. About two-thirds
of those polled said they believe the economy is in
a period of "strong" or "moderate"
economic growth.
However, only 11 percent of respondents said that they
expect their own household income to rise more than
inflation this year. A third of respondents expect to
lose ground and just over half believe that they will
break even in 2006.
The respondents were also asked about how the January
23 federal election may impact them. About 63 percent
believe that regardless of the election outcome, there
will be no change in their standard of living. About
14 percent of those surveyed said they expect an improvement
while 10 percent believe their standard of living will
decline.
Import cars popular in 2005
Foreign-made vehicles were a hit with motorists in
2005.
DesRosiers Automotive Consultants calculated the Canadian
market grew 3.2 percent last year, to 1.58 million vehicles.
Import sales jumped 5.1 percent, three times the growth
rate of sales of the North American brands produced
by General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler.
As well, Mazda Canada, Nissan Canada and Toyota Canada
each reported record-sales years.
Luxury automakers BMW and Porsche confirmed that they
too broke Canadian sales records last year. However,
Audi reported a second year of falling sales.
SUVs no safer for children than other passenger
vehicles
Parents and vehicle manufacturers have long been heralding
sports utility vehicles for their safety, especially
for young passengers.
However, a recent study published in the journal of
Pediatrics discovered that the risk of injury to children
wearing appropriate safety restraints was about 1.7
percent regardless of vehicle type. The study looked
at accident reports involving 3,922 children under the
age of 16.
Illinois-based State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance
Co. analyzed insurance claims between 2000 and 2003
and concluded that injuries from rollover accidents
were more common in SUVs and outweighed the safety benefits
of larger and heavier vehicle frames.
A spokesperson for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
said that newer-model SUVs have been designed with better
safety features than earlier models. Most new-model
SUVs are wider than their predecessors and are lower
to the ground, helping to reduce the chances of rollovers.
SUV owners or those considering buying their own should
examine the overall safety record of the vehicle before
purchasing.
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the property of the respective trademark holders. None
of the CAIB trademark holders are affiliated with ILS
Learning Corporation or this website."
It's
Just Good Business!
By Ken MacRae
COO ILS Learning Corporation
Ideas to enhance your business performance.
Being the Chief Operations Officer for ILS Learning Corporation
is a great job. I work with a tremendous staff and I get to
regularly communicate with some of the brightest and best
salespeople, marketers and service representatives in the
business.
In my discussions, it's become clear that customer value
is the one thing that marketers, salespeople, and service
representatives usually agree needs to be focused on.
Many organizations get it! They are constantly looking for
ways on how they can improve their organizations marketing
and selling activities to deliver better value to their customers.
They understand that the customer value equation is much more
complex than features, benefits and price. Their customer's
value equation is built with every contact, every impression,
intentional or accidental, that penetrates their customers
mind.
Sadly many organizations don't get it. The focus for many
of these groups is on trying to establish a competitive advantage
only with new products or adding unique product features to
old products. Increasingly, these organizations are frustrated
and disappointed to find out that many consumers today just
aren't very excited about product features. Many customers
today are deciding who they will do business with, by how
they "feel" about an organization and the people
within that organization. Customers are increasingly looking
for a rich customer experience and voting with their wallets
for those organizations who strive to deliver it to them.
So what separates the organizations that 'get it' from those
that don't? My observation is that organizations that 'get
it' have something in common. They have a persistent, consistent,
systematic approach to looking at the value they provide to
their customers. They know that their product features are
very important, but they realize that increasingly consumers
are judging them by the whole customer experience. The consumer
value equation has expanded to include the organizations marketing,
communications, sales and services strategies. Organizations
that 'get it' spend considerable time working 'on their business'
versus working 'in their business'.
How much time do you spend each week, month, year working
on your business or working on improving your business skills?
Or are you one of those people who are too busy working to
take time to work on your business or work on improving your
business knowledge.
Through On Track, I will regularly be sharing with you some
different thoughts and ideas that you can use when working
on your business. The goal is simple: I want to help you work
less, make more money and have more fun and hopefully reduce
some of the stress in your life!
At the end of the day the experts all agree nothing will
improve your business like dedicating time each week, each
month, each year to working on your business.
I think finding a persistent, consistent, systematic approach
to working on your business makes a lot of sense- it's just
good business!
Questions or comments? I am available, reach me at ken@ilscorp.com.
When preparing
to take a trip during the colder months, many people simply
make their packing list and go. There is much more that should
be done prior to leaving, as most homeowners policies have
exclusions and provisions regarding winter perils.
A standard homeowners policy says that if a person is going
to be away from their premises for more than four consecutive
days, they will not be covered for any loss or damage caused
by freezing pipes. However, if the homeowner both shuts off
the water supply and drains the pipes, fixtures and appliances,
they will be covered. Another way to ensure that the home
– and policy – is safe is to arrange for a competent
person to enter the dwelling every day to make certain that
the heating is maintained.
If the homeowner takes these steps and there is still damage
done due to freezing pipes, they will still be covered under
their homeowners policy.
Canadians love to travel. We have a
huge country of our own to explore and a huge neighbouring
country that offers us many possibilities as well.
However when January hits, few Canadians are looking at domestic
travel. There's a definite need to find a sandy beach someplace
and have a week or two of vacation time just to thaw out.
Statistics Canada says that in 2005, most travel by Canadians
was done in January, February and March. The top destinations
were the hot spots of Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.
Since Canadian residents made over two million overnight
trips to overseas countries during the first three months
of 2005, we can expect that many will in 2006 as well.
Traveling is usually the perfect opportunity to shed cell
phones and Blackberry devices in favour of a good book and
a drink or two. But traveling can often bring with it its
own stresses. What happens if you get sick in a foreign country?
What happens if you arrive at your destination but your luggage
does not? Natural disasters? Personal crises?
One possible and popular solution to these worries is travel
insurance.
Many Canadians realize how invaluable travel insurance can
be, though they might not always buy it themselves. A 2004
Ipsos-Reid poll showed the following statistics:
Of Canadians who took a leisure trip in the preceding
three years, 67% agree with the statement "an accident
can happen to anyone, even during a very short business
or recreational trip, so I always purchase travel insurance."
34% of respondents stopped buying travel insurance because
it "costs too much" and they "never"
use it anyway.
Canadian travelers who at least occasionally buy travel
insurance prior to a trip tend to purchase their plan from
their travel agent (44%). Others purchased their insurance
from an insurance broker (13%), from a financial institution
(12%), from an association to which they belong (11%) or
directly from an insurance company (10%).
Nearly half (47%) of Canadians who have traveled to the
U.S. on a leisure trip in the last three years, say that
they 'always' (41%) or 'usually' (6%) purchase travel insurance,
while 45 percent 'rarely' (9%) or 'never' (36%).
BC and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (50%) travelers are most
likely to say that they 'always' purchase insurance when
traveling to the U.S., while those from Ontario (36%) and
Atlantic Canada (30%) are least likely.
Women are more likely to say that they 'always' purchase
insurance when traveling to the U.S. than are men (45% versus
35%).
Those aged 55 years or older (57%) are more likely to
'always' purchase insurance when traveling to the U.S. compared
to younger travelers (36% of 18 to 34 year olds, 34% of
35 to 54 year olds).
"Per trip" plans are ideal for most travelers
who will be away from home for a short period – usually
between one and 182 days. As with most insurance policies,
there are different plan options available. Those who wish
to buy travel insurance should sit down and decide what
their needs are. Those who are selling travel insurance
would benefit from a review of the various plans, from basic
to enhanced coverage.
While many of us rang in the New Year just after midnight
on January 1, it’s January 29 which marks the Chinese
New Year. We are entering the Year of the Dog.
The New Year celebration is one of the most important traditional
Chinese holidays. New Year's Day is celebrated on the first
day of the first month of the Chinese calendar, i.e. generally
the day of the second new moon after the day on which the
winter solstice occurs. The Chinese New Year period ends with
the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the month.
The dog is one of the 12 animals which cycle in the Chinese
zodiac. People born under this sign are said to be loyal,
honest, and trustworthy, but can also be stubborn, selfish
and often eccentric. Those born in the Year of the Dog are
also said to make good leaders.
Vacant,
Unoccupied, Under Construction?
By Todd Hochban
Homeowner’s policies usually restrict coverage on vacant
properties. Many wordings remove coverage all together after
a period of vacancy has elapsed. How vacancy is defined varies
from insurer to insurer. The term “vacancy” is
typically tied to the existence of contents in the dwelling
and the intention of the insured to return.
In Nicoli v. Liberty Mutual Insurance, the insurer denied
coverage based on the vacancy of the building. The insured
removed all contents from the building. A number of weeks
later a fire occurred and the insurer denied coverage. The
Ontario court ordered the insurer to pay because removing
the contents did not automatically make the building vacant.
The insured was having renovations completed and had every
intention of returning to the dwelling.
Every year, thousands of Canadians find themselves victims
of identity theft, one of the fastest growing crimes in North
America. Often the victims don’t even know that their
identity was stolen until damage has already been done.
"Identity theft" encompasses all types of crime
in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person's
personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception,
typically for economic gain. The thieves are smart and resourceful;
you might be putting yourself at risk every time you do routine
activities such as making a purchase, filling out forms or
even having your mail delivered to your home.
There are many ways in which a person can gain access to
your personal information. They may outright steal credit
cards or other documents or a cashier at a store might swipe
your credit or debit card twice, giving them access to pertinent
banking information. Online scammers will set up fake or “spoofed”
websites that mimic real websites as a way to get important
information.
Regardless of the methods used to steal a person’s
identity, there are several precautions that can - and should
- be taken to ensure that your identity is safe. Public Safety
and Emergency Preparedness Canada recommends that people consider
the following risk management steps:
Sign all credit cards when you receive them and never
lend them to anyone.
Cancel and destroy credit cards you do not use and keep
a list of the ones you use regularly.
Carry only the identification information and credit
cards that you actually need. Do not carry your social insurance
card; leave it in a secure place. This applies also to your
passport unless you need it for traveling out of country.
Pay attention to your billing cycles and follow up with
your creditors and utility companies if your bills do not
arrive on time.
carefully check each of your monthly credit card statements.
Immediately report lost or stolen credit cards and any discrepancies
in your monthly statements to the issuing credit card company.
Shred or destroy paperwork you no longer need, such as
bank machine receipts, receipts from electronic and credit
card purchases, utility bills, and any document that contains
personal and/or financial information. Shred or destroy
pre-approved credit card applications you do not want before
putting them in the trash.
Secure personal information in your home or office so
that it is not readily accessible to others, who may have
access to the premises.
Do not give personal information out over the phone,
through the mail, or over the Internet unless you are the
one who initiated the contact and know the person or organization
with whom you are dealing.
Password-protect your credit card, bank, and phone accounts,
but do not keep a written record of your PIN number, social
insurance or social security number, or computer passwords
where an identity thief can easily find them. Do not carry
such information in your purse or wallet.
Order a copy of your credit report from the major credit
reporting agencies at least once every year. Check with
the credit bureaus to see whether there is a charge for
this service. Make sure your credit report is accurate and
includes only those activities that you have authorized.
If, despite having taken precautions to protect your identity,
you find yourself a victim of this theft, contact your bank
or credit card company if you have had your checks or credit
cards stolen or wrongfully obtained. Second, contact the police
to get the theft on record. A creditor who mistakenly believes
that you are the person responsible for a fraudulent transaction
may want to see a copy of a police report before correcting
your credit account or credit report. It may also be a good
idea place fraud alerts on your credit reports by contacting
the credit bureaus that operate in Canada.
For more information about identity theft, check out ILS
Learning Corporation’s continuing education course “Identity
Theft And Risk Management Techniques” under Insurance
Personal Lines.
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