Cansure : Everything you need to know

Cansure: Everything you need to know

About Cansure
Team: 160+ insurance professionals
Underwriting expertise: 40+ industry segments

Originally founded in Vancouver, BC, Cansure is today a leading Canadian insurance supplier with offices in both British Columbia and Ontario. With a team that’s 160-plus strong and underwriting expertise in over 40 industry segments, Cansure has a wide range of products to address standard and non-standard risks in personal and commercial lines, and is supported by global and domestic partnerships.

Cansure’s commercial segments include commercial realty, cannabis, contractors, hospitality and commercial events, manufacturing and utilities, marine trade, prize indemnity and contingency, residential realty, resorts and lodges, small vendors program, sports and recreation, transportation, and wholesale as well as retail trade. General lines include commercial property, commercial liability and inland marine, while specialty lanes range from crime and earthquake to legal expense and pollution liability. Cansure’s personal lines segments include high value homeowners, hobby farms and ranches, rental condos and dwellings, and many more.

Cansure strives to be a top supplier in Canada and is accessible by all licensed brokers in the country. Its policies were issued under Beacon Underwriting and Cansure’s registered trade-name, Can-Sure Underwriting, though in 2018 the two were combined under the Cansure brand.

“Brokers across Canada know us well under the Can-Sure and Beacon names, but it’s time to align our communications behind a single brand that represents our product breadth and harmonized underwriting, claims, and distribution operations,” said company president Cameron Copeland.

In-house claims
Besides underwriting, Cansure also has an in-house claims management function, Cansure Claims, the intent of which is to provide a high quality claims service, respond quickly to inquiries, and resolve claims as soon as possible. The company continually makes investments in underwriting, facilities and claims management, which underpins a growth strategy that’s aimed at building a brand identity known for quality, responsiveness, and integrity in the Canadian insurance space.

Broker portal
Cansure has teamed up with the BrokerLift platform, an ecommerce insurance solution, to provide a digital portal to brokers in Canada through which they can set up a branded ecommerce-enabled website to sell insurance to clients under their own brand. Via the Cansure website, brokers can quote and bind transactional insurance with Cansure. Five product lines were initially available through the portal: boats, motorcycles (in BC), off-road vehicles, special events, and hole-in-one, but the company continues to look at expanding the availability of products to brokers while aligning systems to unite the billing, branding, and in-force policy portfolios in one convenient digital marketplace.

Cannabis experts
Following recreational marijuana legalization in Canada in October 2018, Cansure was more than ready to provide insurance solutions to licensed cannabis retailers, producers, and manufacturers. Through its Cannasure by Cansure offering, Canadian licensed cannabis operations have access to high property limits, commercial general liability coverage (including product liability and equipment breakdown) in addition to other extensions that together make up a complete insurance solution. Cannasure is a modular policy, which means specialty coverages – D&O, terrorism and cyber, and cargo – can be easily added. Licensed producers also have access to contamination coverage, and coverage provided on a specialized valuation basis.

Besides having the right product in place, Cansure also plays an educational role by sharing its expertise about the emerging cannabis sector to the Canadian insurance marketplace. Its experts have participated in webinars about the topic, which has been especially valuable for brokers as a result of the deep expertise these experts bring to the table.

“I started penetrating the licensed producer market about three years ago. During my tenure with my previous employer, we had about 70% of the market in Canada in terms of property for licensed producers,” said Carlos Centeno, branch manager of Cansure’s Toronto office, adding that he’s also had a hand in creating bespoke policies for licensed producers on the property side, including extensions like contamination and infestation, and other related policy products. “As part of my duties, I’ve also interacted with the important stakeholders, such as reinsurers, in supporting our endeavours with respect to capacity for these particular risks.”

With regulations still influx, brokers have to stay on top of changes in this marketplace as it evolves, for the benefit of their commercial cannabis clients.

“If you’re a retailer, you might have the ability to actually act within a particular province, but what if a municipality or certain bylaws prevent you from operating your retail facility within X-distance of a school or any other retail activity?” said Centeno. “This minutia, from a legal perspective, should be considered. A lot of leases, for example, are being signed right now, but are being signed in the absence of an overall legal framework that perhaps will allow them or not allow them to operate, so there are a lot of unknowns.”