INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

AXIS Insurance Launches On Apollo Exchange
AXIS Insurance, a business segment of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited, has partnered with Apollo Insurance to offer bind online insurance products through the Apollo Exchange. Read more.

FHG Opens Succession Platform To Advisors
Financial Horizons Group, in collaboration with FindBob, has announced that BookMark, a web-based succession platform, is now available to the entire network of Financial Horizons Group advisors. Read more.

Intact, Snapsheet Launch Photo Claims Estimates
Intact Financial has announced it has partnered with Snapsheet to launch a photo estimating service via its virtual claims app. Ontario drivers who are insured through Intact can now take advantage of this option. Read more.

Aon, Hi Marley Partner To Boost Engagement
Aon plc, a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions, has announced a partnership with Hi Marley to improve insurers' customer engagement through an intelligent SMS texting platform. Read more.

Porsche Launches Its Own Auto Insurance
A new breed of insurance is available to Porsche drivers in Illinois and Oregon. Porsche Auto Insurance delivers tailored insurance rates matched with exceptional customer service – all without compromising privacy. The innovative solution meets the unique needs of Porsche drivers by limiting costs to actual miles driven, plus a low base rate Read more.

MCCG Rebrands, Launches Cognition+
Mutual Concept Computer Group's transformational change project has culminated with the rebranding of MCCG to Cognition+ and the launch of their next-generation insurance solution, also known as Cognition+. Read more.

US Cyber Premiums Doubled In Four Years
Direct premiums written in the U.S. cyber insurance market have more than doubled over a four-year span – 2015 to 2018, inclusive – as insurers have increased their writings and expanded product offerings to meet an ever-growing demand, according to a new AM Best special report. Read more.

Hiscox Launches Cyber Exposure Calculator
Hiscox, the specialist global insurer, has launched an innovative new Cyber Exposure Calculator, designed to help businesses estimate the potential financial impact they may face if they were the victim of a cyber-attack. The calculator is the latest in a suite of educational products provided by the Hiscox CyberClear Centre. Read more.

AIG Consolidates Reinsurance Operations
American International Group, Inc., is pleased to announce the formation of AIG Re, which consolidates the company's assumed Reinsurance operations, including Validus Re, AlphaCat and Talbot Treaty into one global business. Read more.

Data & Analytics Investments Driving Growth
Business intelligence or data analytics and functionality are among the top capabilities that insurer business executives need IT to deliver. In a new report, Novarica shows where insurers are deploying analytics, featuring case studies of more than a dozen successful analytics deployments that have resulted in clearly defined business value. Read more.

P&C Underwriting: Changing The Global Dynamics
Aite Group's latest report finds that P&C insurance carriers can no longer rely on outdated rating systems using bits and pieces of data and expect to compete in today's market, as vendors and carriers begin to explore opportunities to increase efficiency and process data with artificial intelligence and machine learning. Read more.

Loss Control: Overview and Prominent Providers
Carriers are transforming the traditional back-office loss control function by coupling emerging technologies with modern loss control platforms. In a new report, Novarica provides an overview of loss control platforms and emerging tech solutions. Read more.

Distribution Connectivity Options Improving
As insurance distribution connectivity continues to evolve, new solution providers are entering the market to assist carriers and their distribution partners. In its latest report, Novarica provides an overview of this new distribution ecosystem with profiles of prominent players. Read more.

Reputation Risk Rising, Business Confidence Falls
CNA Hardy's 2019 Global Risk & Confidence Survey finds that as global, interconnected risk becomes a reality, reputational risk is rising, and business confidence is on the slide among executives leading North American, UK and European businesses. Read more.

AXA XL Enhances Environmental Insurance
AXA XL's Environmental business in North America has added supplemental coverage to its Pollution and Remediation Legal Liability (PARLL) policy which provides protection to owners, operators and developers of fixed facilities against loss, remediation expense and legal defense expense for sudden and gradual pollution conditions. Read more.

PERILS Acquires Loss Aggregation Firm CatIQ
PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organisation providing industry-wide catastrophe insurance data, has announced that it has acquired Toronto-based Catastrophe Indices & Quantification Inc. (CatIQ). Read more.

Assured Restoration Joins GUS Network
GUS is pleased to announce that Assured Restoration Inc. has partnered with GUS, further expanding GUS's growing network of full-service restoration companies across Southern Ontario. Assured Restoration services residential and commercial properties in the city of Hamilton and surrounding areas. Read more.

NFP Acquires Excel Bonds & Insurance Services
NFP, a leading insurance broker and consultant that provides P&C, corporate benefits, retirement and individual solutions, has announced that it has acquired Excel Bonds & Insurance Services, Inc. Read more.

Equisoft Acquires Grendel
Global business-driven solution provider Equisoft is pleased to announce the acquisition of Grendel, a privately-owned US-based company offering an industry-leading CRM system purpose-built for the wealth management industry. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Read more.

Options For Managing Flood Costs: IBC
Insurance Bureau of Canada has publicly released a paper on ways to better manage the costs of flooding for high-risk residential properties in Canada. The value of damage from extreme weather covered by insurance reached CAD 2 billion in 2018. Read more.

One Third Of Travel Claims Medical-Related
Tight airport security and flight delays can definitely be a downside to air travel, but the biggest pet peeve for more than one quarter of Canadians is bad travel etiquette, according to a recent RBC Insurance survey. And the top three worst things they've lost are baggage, their passport, and their travelling companion. Read more.

Tenant Insurance Can Make All The Difference
With moving day fast approaching, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) would like to point out that 37% of tenants are not insured, even though home insurance could make all the difference in case of loss. Read more.

Gluten-Free Policy Does Not Contain Blockchain
Apollo Insurance has reluctantly admitted that its recently announced gluten-free insurance policy is not in fact on the blockchain. After thorough examination by excited parties the InsurTech firm was forced to backpedal on rumours that their newest product was secured on the widely popular distributed ledger smart contract system. Read more.

Featured job opportunities:

Personal Lines Account Manager
Dyberg Insurance Group Inc.
Edmonton, AB

Licensed General Insurance Broker
PAL Insurance Brokers Canada Ltd.
Calgary, AB

“Insurance In The Platform Economy”

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Insurers, brokers and suppliers are coming to terms with InsurTech. Alongside an impressive number of new startups, we are seeing the parallel adoption of InsurTech characteristics by incumbents.

On August 28, take “A Peek Into The Future of Insurance” with Tim Attia, CEO & Co-Founder of Slice Labs, only at ICEF2019.

Even in the midst of the digital revolution, thought leaders are looking over the horizon at new opportunities and paradigm shifts. Tim will explore the industry's future – with examples of the next generation of the previously unthinkable.

Register now, or for complete details, visit
insurance-canada.ca/icef.

The InsurTech Spotlight features insurance practitioners and InsurTech(nology) providers which are – or are becoming – InsurTechs. In the spotlight this week are:

Red Planet Software
Red Planet Software develops and manages cloud-based payment software built specifically to support insurance intermediaries in managing their client payment experience. Our solutions make the payment process seamless for both the insurance intermediary and their clients. We allow intermediaries to “own” more of their client experience. Learn more.

Calling all InsurTechs! Click here to participate.

Free Webinar: “Automating the FNOL
to Improve Customer Satisfaction”

Wednesday, July 17, at Noon

Aviva and Accident Support Services collaborated to deploy real-time integration for automated First Notification of Loss so that data gathered at a Collision Reporting Centre is automatically transmitted to Aviva's Guidewire ClaimCenter; a claim is set up, an adjuster assigned and an immediate confirmation of their Aviva claim number is sent to the customer via email or text message.

Jonathan Spinner, AVP of Claims Transformation and Strategy at Aviva, and Rick Yates, VP of Insurance Programs at Accident Support Services International, will discuss their first-in-Canada joint project.

Register now or learn more.

From Doug Is “climate change” real? Scientists and environmentalists have been warning us about human-induced climate change for decades. As with any such issue, there are doubters (whether over the entire phenomenon or just the “human-induced” qualifier). Mounting reports of damage due to extreme weather events have converted some of the skeptics. Floods, wildfires, hail storms, tornadoes, hurricanes and typhoons seem to occur almost daily somewhere around the world. As the scientific evidence accumulates, most now accept that extreme weather is becoming more extreme and more frequent. The bigger question: Have we passed the point of no return? That is, can we stop the changes, or even reverse them – or at a minimum, slow the rate of change? Dramatic action is needed. Are you up to the challenge? More on this topic next week. Doug Grant, CIP Partner Insurance-Canada.ca