INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

Root Enterprise Platform Gives Insurers Predictive Powers
Root Enterprise is a new business dedicated to improving the way commercial companies assess and manage driving risk. Built using the technology that powered the fastest growing InsurTech business in the U.S., Root Enterprise provides proven predictive technology to insurers, developers, and fleet managers seeking to more accurately assess risk. Read more.

AXA XL Launches Autonomous Vehicle Policy
AXA XL is pleased to announce the launch of a new insurance solution designed to cover the risks associated with autonomous vehicles. The offering will help companies developing or using the technology to better manage and transfer those new and evolving risks. Read more.

Sapiens Partners With HazardHub To Enhance Underwriting
Sapiens International Corporation, a leading global provider of software solutions for the insurance industry, is pleased to announce it is partnering with HazardHub, a third-generation provider of property-level hazard risk databases. HazardHub's real-time, comprehensive risk data will be integrated into the Sapiens CoreSuite to improve carriers' underwriting efforts. Read more.

Life Insurance Digital Transformation Benchmark
The digital transformation journey for life insurance carriers involves the same struggles with budgets, legacy systems, and corporate culture as financial services in general. A new Aite Group report provides a benchmark of where core operational areas stand in their digital transformation efforts in comparison to peers and competitors. Read more.

IBAC Hails Advisory Committee Progress
The Insurance Brokers Association of Canada applauds the progress made by the Centre for Study of Insurance Operations' INNOTECH Advisory Committee and their collective efforts in solving common industry pain points. Read more.

INSURANCE & CORONAVIRUS NEWS

PMO Updates Canada's Coronavirus Response
COVID-19 is a rapidly evolving global issue. The Government of Canada will do everything necessary to protect the health, safety, and wellbeing of Canadians, and is working around the clock to limit the spread of this pandemic. Read more.

Maple Launches Online COVID-19 Screening
Maple, a leading virtual care platform in Canada, is now providing OHIP-covered online coronavirus screenings with a live physician to all Ontario residents. To support physicians during the outbreak, the company will also provide its virtual clinic software to all Ontario and BC physicians free of charge in order to ensure safe and stable healthcare access for patients. Read more.

COVID-19: Challenges and Opportunities in Financial Services
As governments around the world attempt to defend against COVID-19, financial institutions and their technology vendors are facing significant operational constraints as well as a rapidly deteriorating business climate, and many are experiencing an urgent need to identify bright spots. A special report from Aite Group brings to light a range of near-term challenges and opportunities for financial institutions. Read more.

AIR Worldwide Shares COVID-19 Estimates
According to catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide, 147 countries and territories have reported confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of March 17. The country most affected by the outbreak has been China, where the number of new cases is in decline, while case numbers are growing in the United States as testing expands. Read more.

Small Firms Report Drop In Sales Due To Pandemic
Half of Canada's small businesses have already seen a drop in sales due to the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, with 4 in 10 of those affected businesses reporting a decrease greater than 25 per cent, according to a survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Read more.

Three Fiscal Measures To Address Coronavirus
As the coronavirus pandemic spreads across Canada, a rising chorus is calling for expensive fiscal stimulus to fight its economic fallout. A new MEI publication asserts that given already low interest rates, fiscal measures are the textbook response. Read more.

CMA Welcomes Aggressive Containment Steps
The Canadian Medical Association has expressed its support for new measures which effectively close Canada's borders to those who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents, and to anyone showing symptoms of the coronavirus, in order to help stop the spread of the pandemic. Read more.

Air Canada Updates Response To COVID-19
The global airline industry is facing a severe drop in traffic as a result of the coronavirus outbreak and travel restrictions imposed around the world. Although Air Canada expects this disruption to be temporary, the full impact and duration are unknown. Read more.

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

Prodigy Labs
Prodigy Labs is a Canadian professional services company leading the way in fintech innovation. Our service solutions include digital identity, payments modernization, and workforce solutions. Learn more.

Calling all InsurTechs! Click here to participate.

We asked some of the Young Insurance Professionals of Toronto for their outlook on the industry...

Q: How do you see upcoming technology landscape changing the insurance industry or propelling it into the future?

A: It's 2020, and you can do everything online: you can order food, watch a movie, renew your driver's licence, deposit a cheque, and even buy insurance – sometimes (as long as your risk isn't too complicated). With all of these industries offering full online solutions it is no wonder that the veil on insurance hasn't been raised. With very few completely digital players in the industry technology has the ability to power a new generation of informed and empowered insurance buyers. Take banking for example, one of the most regulated industries in the world has met their clients where they are, online. Technology will change the way we do business in the insurance industry from an education, claims, sales and service perspective and provides us with new opportunities to better serve our clients in the time and place that best suits them leading to stronger bonds between clients and insurers and more accurate risk analysis.

From Doug Everyone is glued to information sources, hearing the statistics of what is being tested, detected, and measured. We generally agree that Canada is early in the growth curve of confirmed coronavirus cases. Although the situation in China may be starting to relax somewhat, we are roughly two months behind them. By “flattening the curve,” we hope to stay within the capacity of our health care system and supply chains and avoid the sort of crisis now facing Italy. More will survive in the end, but the trade-off may be a longer period before the heaviest restrictions can be gradually eased. Everyone has to contribute: Even in self-isolation, we are in this together – not just each country, but the entire world. Listen to informed expert advice, act responsibly, and be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Then go one more step. If nothing else, reach out – virtually – to someone who is alone or needs support. Stay connected, and stay well. Doug Grant, CIP Partner Insurance-Canada.ca