Issue 2002-28:   July 16, 2002

This newsletter is for members of the Canadian Insurance Industry, and those who serve it. The newsletter is published weekly, and notes information mostly about the use of the Internet and related technologies in the industry. Some is international, where we feel it is relevant to Canada.

Distribution

Unity Life of Canada Launches XpressInsure by GeniSystems

Unity Life of Canada announces the launch of XpressInsure (TM) — a new and innovative on-line service for its insurance distributors and their clients. Term insurance and critical illness insurance are two of Unity's most popular personal protection options for Canadians from coast-to-coast. Now, through XpressInsure (TM), Canadian consumers can easily purchase these essential types of insurance simply by answering a brief series of questions on-line and their policy will be sent out within 48 hours! More at www.insurance-canada.ca/distribution/announce/GeniSystems200207.php

RBC Insurance® sponsors 2002 Advisor of the Year Awards

RBC Insurance today announced its sponsorship of the 2002 Advisor of the Year Awards. Launched in 1999 by Advisor’s Edge magazine, the program honours outstanding financial advisors for their determination, resourcefulness and dedication to serving clients’ needs. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/distribution/canada/RBCAdvisor200207.php

CSIO Insurance Portal

Week ending July 12: The CSIO Quality Assurance copy of the Portal computer applications has now been "frozen" or "locked down", meaning that the CSIO Quality Assurance phase for initial functions is now complete. Now the ISI rating engine will be installed on the portal and tested. Then User or Company Acceptance level testing will begin. More rates have been received and more have been loaded for the comparative rating function by ISI on the portal.

The current plan calls for the pilot phase brokers to begin connecting in early August. It will be up to the brokers and the companies to decide whether the rates provided will be used for "production" or "test". It is hoped to have about 20 brokers connected before the end of August and the "official" pilot for production use will start then. At this time, fourteen of the initial twenty brokers have been identified. Unless there are major hitches, more brokers beyond twenty will be added gradually in Sept.

Policy Management

Royal & SunAlliance Introduces Think-Tank for Specialty Products.

Royal & SunAlliance introduces knowledgeworks - "an insurance think-tank" - a new approach to developing specialty insurance products and services. The knowledgeworks team will focus exclusively on providing insurance solutions that demand the expertise of highly trained underwriters. The team brings together leading underwriting specialists, to provide customers with unparalleled service and insurance knowledge. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/poladmin/canada/RSAkw200207.php

TransGuard to Implement FrontTier and ProCede Insurance Solutions from Sherwood International

Sherwood International has entered into a multimillion dollar license and implementation agreement with TransGuard Insurance of America, the largest multi-line insurance company in the United States focused on the trucking industry. Chicago-based TransGuard will automate its business operations and enterprise systems using Sherwood's FrontTier processing and workflow management application and ProCede reinsurance solutions. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/poladmin/announce/SherwoodTG200207.php

Claims

OASIS announces the Software installed in 40+ Locations in Ontario.

Orion Software Systems Ltd. is pleased to announce that their OASIS software program has been installed in over 40 healthcare facilities since its launch in April 2002. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/claims/announce/Orion200207.php

Boomerang Successfully Launches Boomerang ELITE, a Program for New Car Dealers and their Customers

Boomerang Tracking Inc. today announced that it has launched the Boomerang Elite Program, a value-added program designed specifically for new car dealers in Ontario and Quebec. The program offers a multitude of benefits to those customers who buy either the Boomerang or Boomerang2 (TM) Tracking Systems through authorized new car dealers. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/claims/announce/Boomerang200207.php

Reference and Statistics

OSFI Posts Quarterly Insurer Data on Web site

The Federal Government continues to make available information more accessible to the public by posting increasing amount of data on the web. Recently the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) began to post quarterly information from those insurance companies which it regulates, and semi-annual information for reinsurers. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/refstat/canada/OSFI200207.php

Marketing

Long Term Care Insurance Out of Sight and Out of Mind for Most Canadians, RBC Insurance Study Shows.

The prospect of failing health and long term illness popping up in their later years has nearly half of Canadians concerned about becoming a burden to others. Despite these concerns, few understand all the options that are available to help ease their worries, says a new survey released today by RBC Insurance. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/market/canada/RBCLTC200207.php

Gen-X Professionals, Financial Services, and the Web: Report Published by Celent.

A Celent Communications survey of affluent, wired 25-34 year-olds shows massive adoption of online financial services, use of the Web to find and evaluate providers, and strong interest in financial planning services in this important segment. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/market/other/celent200207.php

U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service Exempts Canadians.

After months of speculation and confusion resulting from proposed visa regulation changes by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), Canadian travellers can start preparing for their winters abroad secure that, due to the ongoing efforts of the Canadian Snowbird Association (CSA), their time in the United States is safe. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/consinfotravel/SnowBird200207.php

Skills and Careers

George Anderson, Alan Davenport Receive Order of Canada

George Anderson, the immediate past president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, helped to develop strategic responses to enhance our ability to withstand and recover from natural disasters and catastrophic events. He also worked tirelessly to introduce a graduated licensing system for novice drivers, which reduces the loss of life and injury resulting from collisions.” Dr. Alan Davenport is active in many areas including his role as the Research Director with the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR), a member of the Board of Directors and chair of the Research Advisory Committee.

The Order of Canada recognizes people who have made a difference to our country. From local citizens to national and international personalities, all Canadians are eligible for the Order of Canada, the country's highest honour for lifetime achievement. This honour is restricted to a maximum of 136 recipients per year. More at www.insurance-canada.ca/humanres/canada/OC200207.php

from Doug:

We continue with the redesign of our site. The Technology & e-business section has been converted to our new template, leaving a few more of the Professional Sections to go. We are hoping to go live with a new section about Insurance Products with an emphasis on niche, specialty, hard-to-find products at the end of July - more information to come.

A second announcement for our August 13 seminar "Brokers: Driving Technology to Work" will be made later this week - watch for it, and register. All that said, I hope you are finding time for R&R in this perfect summer weather - enjoy!