Insurance-Canada.ca - Where insurance and technology meet

JULY 25, 2017

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INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

A.I. Technologies Becoming “Pervasive”
Market hype and growing interest in artificial intelligence are pushing established software vendors to introduce A.I. into their product strategy. Gartner analysts predict that by 2020, A.I. technologies will pervade almost every new software product and service. Read more.

Claims Management In Focus As InsurTech Funding Volume Climbs
The second Quarterly InsurTech Briefing from Willis Towers Watson examines how incumbents and new entrants in the insurance sector are developing and adapting technology-driven applications focused on streamlining the insurance claims management process and considers the future implications of this trend. The Read more.

Top 10 Lessons Learned: Past Innovation Pivots
Strategy Meets Action regularly works with insurers and studies their innovation approaches, behaviors, and initiatives across insurance and many other industries. This is a compilation of what we believe are the best practices for innovation, through anecdotal and use case examples. Read more.

Nationwide Advances Voice-Integration Technology
As Nationwide continues to make industry-leading advancements in digital technology, the company has enhanced its current Nationwide skill for Amazon Alexa by adding a SmartRide® capability. The goal is to provide a new way to communicate with Nationwide members about its safe-driving, usage-based insurance program. Read more.

Keal Delivers Rating to Canadian Brokers
Keal Technology is pleased to announce that Keal Rating is now live in three provinces. Keal Rating allows brokers to start and end directly in the broker management system, eliminating dual entry. Read more.

Chubb Launches Dedicated Multi-line Practice
Chubb has launched a multi-line industry practice within its Major Accounts division, dedicated to providing innovative insurance products, industry-leading service and risk management solutions for best-in-class large risk transportation clients in the United States and Canada. Read more.

Josslin Launches BMS-Integrated App
Josslin Insurance has launched the new Real Insurance app – a free, interactive tool that gives clients Smartphone access to their insurance information, such as coverage details and proof of insurance (pink slips), as well as the ability to chat with their broker, request changes to their policy and report claims in real-time. Read more.

ICBC Deploys Guidewire Claim Portal
Guidewire Software is pleased to announce that the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia has successfully implemented Guidewire Claim Portal™ to optimize the claims experience of its policyholders. Read more.

The Guarantee Partners With NAL Insurance
The Guarantee Company of North America has partnered with NAL Insurance to offer Ontario customers of the Guarantee Transportation Solution program a comprehensive Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) coverage alternative for their owner operators. Read more.

Merger Forms Sentinel Risk Insurance Group
Peter Blodgett and David Kennedy of Darling Insurance (Bobcaygeon) Limited, and Greg Kruk and James W. Grieve of JWK Insurance Broker, are pleased to announce the merging of their companies and the formation of Sentinel Risk Insurance Group Limited, serving clients across Central Ontario. Read more.

FIRST Canada Acquires IPFC
FIRST Insurance Funding of Canada, the leader in insurance payment solutions, has acquired Insurance Premium Finance Company to further expand its presence and continued commitment to the Canadian insurance industry. Read more.

2017 Natural Catastrophe Review: Munich Re
A series of hailstorms and tornadoes in the USA dominated the natural catastrophe statistics in the first half of 2017. Worldwide nat cat losses, however, were below average. Read more.

Aon Catastrophe Report: 2017 So Far
Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield's catastrophe model development team, has launched its Global Catastrophe Recap: First Half of 2017 report, which evaluates the impact of the natural disaster events that occurred worldwide in the first six months of the year. Read more.

Canada #11 In Global Retirement Index
Canada fell one place to No. 11 in retirement security among 43 countries, according to the 2017 Global Retirement Index published by Natixis Global Asset Management. That outcome was driven in part because prosperity has lagged behind for lower-income Canadians, but Canada's strong health system helped stabilize its position from further decline. Read more.

Ontario Auto Insurance Rates For Q2 2017
The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) reviews filings from insurance companies which offer auto insurance in Ontario. FSCO has provided an overview of the filings which were reviewed in the second quarter of 2017. Read more.

What's going through the Intersection
of insurance and technology?

InsurTech Futures
Developers are bringing forward digital technologies to improve existing functionality, increase customer experience, support new products, and reduce friction costs. The big question is whether InsurTech will continue to operate on the periphery of “standard” insurance technology or integrate with insurers' architecture. Read more.

Big Data, A.I., Cognitive Computing, Connected World ... Hadoop at the core!
By Cindy Maike, Hortonworks
Few would disagree that big data is maturing. One by one, the major software vendors are shifting focus to “above the stack” of the Big Data ecosystem. As the insurance industry progresses, it's interesting to ponder: what will we see in the areas of machine learning, artificial intelligence and cognitive computing? Read more.

“Insurance: Connected”
2017 Insurance-Canada.ca Executive Forum
Tuesday, August 29, in Toronto

Today's insurance consumers demand versatility and (from their point of view) simplicity. Help them to insure only the things they want to insure, when they want, for as long as they want, from whichever device they are using at the moment they wish to engage.

Serial entrepreneur and thought leader Mark Dowds, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Trōv, will address “Enabling On-Demand Insurance” with an eye to providing that simple experience.

Register now and join your peers on Tuesday, August 29.

From Doug

Significant damaging events, be they weather or fire or other, seem to be increasing in both frequency and severity. Reports from Munich Re, Swiss Re and others provide periodic summaries that generally support the trends.

Due to their sheer scale, responding to such disasters tends to challenge our industry to serve policyholders and claimants. Cliché or not, it is the “moment of truth” in insurance – will the insurer meet the claimant's high expectations?

Helping them through the claims process to final settlement can be a long and arduous process.

It is also a competitive space as providers utilize new approaches, processes and technologies to continually improve on past performance.

At our 2017 Executive Forum, Insurance-Canada.ca is thrilled to have Pat Van Bakel, CEO of Crawford Canada, and Keith Raymond, VP at Novarica, describe the dramatic changes taking place in the claims space.

I am looking forward to their comments.

Doug Grant, CIP
Partner
Insurance-Canada.ca

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