We’re wrapping up the year with a look back during the holiday season – and what a year it’s been! To start things off, we take a look at the some of the big newsmakers from January, February, March and April.
January
IBC donates to ice storm victims 02/01/2014
The
Insurance Bureau of Canada showed a warm heart to Ontarians following December’s ice storm, donating $25,000 to victims who had gone days without electrical power in the cold darkness.
“IBC and its members have a long and proud history of working locally to make a difference,” said Ralph Palumbo, Ontario vice president, IBC. “We hope that this donation will go a long way to help those in need, particularly those who lost food due to power outages.”
Canadians promoted in Hub executive shuffle 09/01/2014
Hub International announced four key executive promotions and the expansion of their executive management team, including two Canadians.
Neil Morrison, President, Hub International Ontario/HKMB, has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Operations; along with Chad Robertson, President, Hub International Barton, who was promoted to Regional President, Canada West, responsible for the Barton, TOS, and Horizon operations.
Rehab clinics fined the maximum $100,000 14/01/2014
Three Toronto-area rehabilitation clinics were convicted of multiple offences resulting from co-operative investigations involving Insurance Bureau of Canada Investigative Services, multiple insurers, police, and the Financial Services Commission of Ontario.
“IBC congratulates FSCO for its commitment to this case,” said Rick Dubin, vice-president of Investigative Services with IBC. “We are also proud of the role IBC and its member insurance companies played. We achieved such a successful outcome because all parties – police, IBC, individual insurance companies and FSCO – worked well together.” (continued.)
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February
Canadians buck the trend on customer loyalty 10/02/2014
A global survey shows two-thirds of insurance customers would consider buying products from companies other than insurers – but don’t panic yet, because the Canadian responses turn those numbers upside down.
According to research by
Accenture based on a survey of more than 6,000 insurance customers in 11 countries, 67 per cent of customers indicated they would consider purchasing products from non-traditional organizations – including 23 per cent who would buy from online service providers like Google and Amazon.
Major insurer to fire 1,600 workers 14/02/2014
A major property/casualty insurer announced it was reducing its global workforce by approximately 1,600 workers.
Property and casualty insurer American International Group said it was reducing its global workforce by approximately 3 per cent by the end of the year.
Intact acquires brokerage network 24/02/2014
Intact Financial Corporation recently strengthened its position in Newfoundland and Labrador through the purchase of a 13 brokerage network.
The largest provider of property and casualty insurance in Canada announced that it had signed a definitive share purchase agreement to acquire Newfoundland and Labrador-based Metro General Insurance Corporation Limited – the terms of which were not disclosed. (continued)
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March
Car thieves caught after posting on Facebook 07/03/2014
Law enforcement working with the insurance industry have stepped up the prosecution of car thieves – but it didn’t take a lot of police work to catch these Facebook-posting fools.
Two young men, already on parole for a string of armed robberies, went on a seven-month thieving spree during which they stole everything from high-end motorcycles to Mercedes Benzes to Lamborghinis from victims’ homes.
But the joyride ended when the two thieves, Jonathan Dougan, 26, and Matthew Murphy, 23, of Salford, England, began gloating on social media, posting more than 50 pictures of themselves on Facebook – often with the very vehicles they had stolen.
One of the victims was tipped off that Dougan was responsible for the theft of his KTM motorcycle and checked out his Facebook page, only to see a picture of Dougan straddling his stolen bike.
NDP’s ‘mean spirited’ comments draw IBC’s ire 10/03/2014
Recent changes to the standard Ontario auto insurance policy characterized as “mean spirited” by the New Democratic Party's consumer services critic have brought a swift response from the Insurance Bureau of Canada.
“Attendant care coverage is not limited to those catastrophically injured in an accident as stated by the MPP,” said the IBC’s Ralph Palumbo, vice-president for Ontario, in answer to NDP critic for consumer services Jagmeet Singh’s comment that changes to the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule “restricts the amount of attendant benefits that can be claimed by family members who are caring for someone who has been injured in an automobile accident.”
UNDZ coverage payout? Not from us, says Lloyd’s 18/03/2014
Stories of Lloyd’s providing peril coverage for purchasers of UNDZ underwear are simply not true, says an official at Lloyd’s Canada.
“The purported insurance cover denoted in the article was not placed through the Lloyd’s market,” wrote Sean Murphy, president of Lloyd’s Canada, attorney in fact in Canada, Lloyd’s Underwriters in Toronto. “I’ve confirmed with both the Lloyd’s cover holder and the Lloyd’s broker there is no cover bound in the Lloyd’s market.”
The Montreal-based underwear company became an internet sensation, offering an insurance policy for its male customers who purchased three or more pairs of UNDZ underwear through the company website, in the event they should suffer a catastrophic injury to their penis. (continued.)
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April
Widow of CFO confronts Zurich over husband’s suicide 07/04/2014
The widow of
Zurich Insurance’s former chief financial officer Pierre Wauthier criticized the insurer’s approach to her husband’s suicide at the annual general meeting.
Addressing the company at the annual shareholders meeting in Switzerland, Fabienne Wauthier said that the family could not accept that his suicide was unaccountable, and questioned the handling of the investigation, in which the law firm Homburger was asked to independently investigate whether Wauthier had been placed under undue pressure at work.
Errors found in B.C.’s optional insurance program 14/04/2014
Upgrades to the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia computers have already borne fruit, identifying almost 100,000 optional insurance customers who have either overpaid or underpaid on their auto coverage – all because of a simple error.
The less than five per cent of our optional insurance customers have an incorrect description assigned to their vehicle which impacts what they pay for their optional insurance.
ICBC estimates on average 1.8 per cent or 40,000 optional insurance customers per year had an incorrect vehicle description which resulted in an overpayment on a portion of their optional insurance. The average overpayment per year was $21. ICBC also estimates on average 2.7 per cent or 58,000 optional insurance customers underpaid on a portion of their optional insurance per year. The average underpayment per year was $34.
How the insurance industry educated Canada Post 28/04/2014
Marc Lefebvre, the underwriting coordinator at the Insurance Bureau of Canada, loves to share the story of how Canada Post rebranded Express Post as Registered Mail USA – and how it earned him the nickname the ‘Postmaster General of Insurance.’
It begins back in January, when Canada Post announced it was temporarily suspending registered mail service to the United States, forcing insurers to find alternate methods for cancelling policies of insurance mid-term, where the insured’s mailing address was in the United States.
“Needless to say this had an immediate impact on Canadian insurers,” says Lefebvre, “[They] would be unable to fulfill the termination requirements, as prescribed in the respective Provincial Insurance Acts, to communicate with insureds, additional insureds and interested parties (lessors, lienholders or mortgage holders) of Notice or Termination.
“Ultimately, Express Post was rebranded as Registered Mail USA,” he says, which actually has enhanced service to Canadian insurers by allowing for volume discounts, faster delivery (two to three days) and on-line tracking.
“Which were not available under the old Registered Mail routine to the United States,” says Lefebvre. “Now they call me the Postmaster General of Insurance.”
Tomorrow: What made headlines during the spring and summer of 2014?
