AXA reported its 2008 Q1 property and casualty revenues increased by 2% to EUR8.885 million (Cdn$13.74 billion), up from EUR8.625 billion (Cdn$13.33 billion) in 2007 Q1.
"This solid performance resulted from positive new business volumes with personal motor and household net new contracts reaching 246,000 and 17,000 contracts, respectively, as well as prices holding up well across the board," the company noted in a press release.
Ontario auto rates are on the rise, according to data posted by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), the regulator of the province's insurers.
Rate applications approved for 2008 Q1 averaged +1.05%, based on the entire market, FSCO noted in an online bulletin.
Rate changes approved in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 were -10.60%, -2.43%, -1.27% and +0.55%, respectively, for the entire market.
In 2008 Q1, for the 43.37% of the market that had rate changes approved, the average rate change was +2.42%, when weighted by market share.
Desjardins General Insurance (DGI) is now offering direct home and auto insurance in Ontario.
In an effort to better manage risks during a period of large-scale catastrophes, insurers should consider offering long-term policies to homeowners in hazard-prone areas.
"Such a long-term policy could be tied to a mortgage, and home improvement loans can encourage the adoption of cost-effective mitigation measures," says a report co-authored by the Wharton University of Pennsylvania, the Insurance Information Institute and Georgia State University.
"A program of insurance vouchers, similar in concept to food stamps, could assist low-income residents in disaster-prone areas to purchase adequate insurance coverage."
The report found that, among other things, most homeowners in hazard-prone areas consider only premium payments, without taking into consideration the benefits of protection, when considering their insurance purchases.
American International Group, Inc. (AIG) reported loss of US$5.3 billion for 2007 Q4, and a net income of US$6.2 billion for the full year 2007, representing a 55.9% decrease over the prior year.
In 2006 Q4, AIG reported a profit of US$3.4 billion. "The 2007 other-than-temporary impairment charges resulted primarily from the significant, rapid declines in market values of certain residential mortgage-backed securities in the fourth quarter, for which AIG cannot reasonably determine the recovery period will be temporary," the company reported in a statement.
In order to respond to the rising costs of climate change-related damages, insurance companies are going to have to focus more on micro-solutions (i.e. on a policyholder-by-policyholder basis), Colin Empke, partner at Blaney McMurtry LLP, told delegates at the Canadian Defence Lawyers 4th annual insurance coverage symposium in Toronto on Feb. 28.
Empke was speaking on behalf of Anthony Saunders, partner with Guild, Yule and Company, who was unable to attend the symposium.
Empke observed an increasing number of weather-related insurance losses, causing the industry to seek ways to deal with increasing costs and solvency issues.
Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (TSE:KFS) reported a net loss of US$103.5 million for 2007 Q4 and a net loss of US$18.5 million for the year, marking a decrease of 716% and 115% over the same periods of 2006, respectively.
The combined ratio was 130.2% in the quarter (109.3% for the year), with Canadian operations reporting a combined ratio of 99.8% (95.0% for the year), a Kingsway release says.
Fitch Ratings says the U.S. property and casualty insurance industry will need to produce a combined ratio of about 95.5% in 2008 in order to meet the goal of an 11% return on surplus.
Fitch made this observation in a report outlining the rating agency's five-factor model for determining return on surplus. The five factors in the forecasting model include:
• combined ratio (underwriting losses + expenses)/net premium;
• investment yield (investment income/invested assets);
• operating leverage (net premium/surplus);
• asset leverage (invested assets/surplus); and
• tax rates (the level at which pre-tax income is taxed).
For the purpose of forecasting into 2008, the ratings agency assumed operating leverage to be 0.8x, asset leverage to be 2.4x and a tax rate at the long-term average effective rate of 23%.
Forty per cent of collision repair centres responding to a Canadian Collision Industry Forum (CCIF) survey noted they have suffered a loss of tradespeople within the last year, potentially affecting the cycle times of car repairs and, as a result, affecting insurers' costs.
On average, a collision repair shop has five technicians on staff, the research found. But these same shops reported they have lost an average of two tradespeople in the last 12 months, Jay Perry, the owner and founder of Automotive Business Consultants (ABC), told attendees at a January 2008 CCIF meeting in Toronto.
"That's huge," he added. "If you consider the initial statistic of five average techs and then you've lost two in the last 12 months we are losing a lot of people to a lot of other trades and there are a myriad of reasons for that."
The Co-operators has expanded its membership, welcoming two new members — the Canadian Worker Co-operative Federation (CWCF) and Fédération des coopératives québécoises en milieu scolaire/COOPSCO.
The new members bring to 39 the number of co-operatives, credit unions and like-minded organizations that make up the ownership group of The Co-operators Group Ltd.
Thousands of Quebecers will be travelling on the dime of an online travel risk management service, thanks to more than five inches of snow that fell at Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport in Montreal.
itravel2000's Let it Snow promotion offered Canadian consumers who booked a qualifying package vacation, hotel or flight by Dec. 7, 2007 for departures up to Apr.30, 2008 the chance to be reimbursed for the retail price of their vacation package if more than five inches of snow fell at airports in Calgary, Halifax, Montreal or Toronto on New Year's Day.
The online travel retailer entered into an agreement with WeatherBill, an online weather risk management service, to receive insurance coverage for the promotion.
Winifred "Wendy" Baker, who in 1990 became the first woman to lead a reinsurance company, will step down after nine years as president of Lloyd's America Inc. at the end of December 2007, A.M. Best has reported.
Baker managed Lloyd's offices in Montreal, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Kentucky and the Virgin Islands.
Baker, who reportedly has stepped down to pursue other interests, has overseen corporate marketing and communications, broker development, distribution and compliance and regulatory issues in the Americas.
A.M. Best notes the United States is Lloyd's largest market, accounting for US$8.5 billion or around 40% of its business in 2004. ?Before joining Lloyd's in 1998, Baker had a long career at Continental Corp., advancing to become president of Continental Re in 1990.
She joined Minet Re North America, New York, as senior vice president in charge of developing new business opportunities for its reinsurance intermediary and retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations in North America.
The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) failed to prove an insured tried to defraud the corporation by faking the theft of his minivan, and B.C.'s provincial court ordered the public insurer to allow the claim.
In Brummitt vs. ICBC, Michael Brummitt filed a claim in June 2005 with ICBC that his 1999 Dodge Caravan was stolen from his driveway. A day or two later, the vehicle was recovered by police; the interior was extensively damaged by a fire that appeared to be deliberately set.
The theft occurred only days before the vehicle's insurance was due for renewal.
ICBC denied liability, alleging Brummitt took the mini-van or arranged with others to simulate a theft.
If a claimant asserts under oath that the vehicle was taken without his or her consent, the claimant does not have to prove that he or she did not participate in the loss, wrote Provincial Court of British Columbia Justice Ross Tweedale.
If the insurer alleges the claimant participated in the theft, that is an allegation of fraud the insurer must prove.
Fraud is a quasi-criminal allegation; accordingly, an insurer must prove fraud on a more stringent standard than simply a balance of probabilities, the judge wrote.
"Despite some aspects of Mr. Brummitt's evidence, his claim that his minivan was stolen is not highly unlikely," Tweedale found. He added that the evidence presented provided a basis for the conclusion that there were a number of ways for the Dodge to have been taken without Brummitt's knowledge.
"ICBC has not proven that Mr. Brummitt tried to defraud the corporation."
A group of 21 U.S. property and casualty reinsurers wrote US$17.9 billion of net premiums during the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2007, compared to US$19.6 billion in net premium written during the same period in 2006, according to an analysis conducted by the Reinsurance Association of America (RAA).
The combined ratio for the group was 94.1%, an improvement over the 95.4% combined ratio reported for the same period last year. The 2007 combined ratio takes into account a 65.6% loss ratio and an expense ratio of 28.5%, according to the RAA.
Gross premiums written totalled US$28 billion for the first nine months of 2007, and direct premiums written amounted to US$2.26 billion.
Swiss Reinsurance America Corp reported the highest gross premiums written, at US$4.1 billion. Second was National Indemnity Company, which reported US$3.3 billion.
Munich Re America Corporation reported the highest direct premiums written in the nine months ended Sept. 30, with US$5.59 million. Odyssey America Re reporting US$4.27 million.
Net underwriting gain was US$1.17 billion total for the first nine months, with nine of the 21 companies reporting a loss.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) on Jan. 1, 2008 is launching a project that will accurately track domestic oil spills in Atlantic Canada for the first time.
The data will be provided to governments as part of an effort to introduce and strengthen legislation for the installation, maintenance and replacement of domestic oil tanks.
"IBC is undertaking this project because there is a clear need to understand the extent of the growing problem of domestic oil spills," said Don Forgeron, vice president, Atlantic, of IBC. "While individual insurance companies have collected data on domestic oil tank spills for some time, this project introduces consistent reporting across the industry.
The main trouble with insurance, and it does cause business people quite a lot of trouble, is that people think about it in a variety of wrong ways.
A wrong way is to pay as little as possible in insurance premium, without thinking about the security of the business.
Well, you may have a crystal ball which tells you that you are never going to have a loss. If so, it is logical to buy insurance only when you have to. You will find that those with a monetary interest in your property, for example, mortgagees, will insist on your having certain policies, and some insurance such as automobile insurance may be compulsory in many provinces. But apart from those situations, you should buy no insurance - if you are not going to have any losses.
However, most people face the fact that they may have a loss some day, and perhaps a serious one they can not afford it by themselves. Having reached this conclusion, the next step must surely be to see that you have adequate coverage - that is, insurance that leaves no important gaps, but does not waste money on insuring trivial items that you can better pay for yourself.
(Palm Beach, Florida) After rejecting a proposal earlier this year to provide health benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of its employees Palm Beach Community College has decided to offer workers insurance for their pets.
Anyone who works for the college would be able to enroll in the pet insurance plan, through Veterinary Pet Insurance. It would cost employees between $22 and $28 per month for dogs and $15 to $18 per month for cats.
The plan will come into effect on January 8.
More info, click here.
Ontario’s superintendent of financial services should review the use of the verbal threshold for establishing serious and permanent injury and/or the use of a Cdn$30,000 deductible to discourage plaintiffs from pursuing smaller auto negligence claims, according to the summary of findings in the Civil Justice Reform Project.
The author of the Civil Justice Reform report, former associate Chief Justice of Ontario Coulter Osborne, released his findings in November 2007. Smaller auto negligence claims represent 21% of the province’s Superior Court of Justice claims, Osborne noted.
In his report, Osborne noted Ontario’s Bill 198 amendments to the Insurance Act in 1996, as well as its associated regulations, are intended to minimize smaller auto negligence claims.
DENVER (AP) - A woman involved in a two-vehicle crash in Denver more than two years ago has gone back to court in an effort to get an insurance company to pay up.
Shantel Gonzales was riding with a friend on Father's Day 2005 when the vehicle in which she was a passenger collided with a truck.
Gonzales was 22 weeks pregnant at the time. Doctors performed an emergency Caesarean section, delivering a boy that Gonzales named Marco. But he was born 3.5 months premature, and lived for just over an hour.
Gonzales sued Shelter Insurance for damages, and a jury last year awarded her $130,000.
The woman's attorney says Shelter hasn't paid that verdict, though it did pay $14,000 toward her medical expenses.
Shelter would not comment.
The trial is expected to last three or four days.
The average risk of landfalling hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin for the next five years remains at significantly above the risk averaged over the long term, warns Risk Management Solutions (RMS).
The current activity rates lead to estimates of average annual insured losses that will be 40% higher than those predicted by the long-term mean of hurricane activity for the Gulf Coast, Florida and the Southeast, an RMS release reports.
The risks will be 25% to 30% higher for the mid-Atlantic and Northeast coastal regions, RMS added.
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