The July 11 announcement that Farmers Insurance is stepping back from writing some business in Florida lead to another round of panicky comments in the press and on social media that climate change was leaving yet one more permanent scar. Some even implied that the move by Farmers and other insurers was marking the beginning of the end of the insurance industry, first in particular US states, then the entire country and, eventually, the world. But the demise of the USD 4 trillion1 global property and casualty insurance sector has probably been greatly exaggerated. The Farmers announcement came ..read more

For the vast majority of the existence of Canada’s property and casualty insurance industry, overland flood was deemed to be uninsurable for Canadian homeowners. While commercial entities have been able to purchase flood insurance for decades, it was only eight years ago that overland flood cover was made available for private residences. Numerous Canadian insurers now offer an overland flood/comprehensive water product, to the point where many (maybe all) provincial disaster financial assistance programs now warn residents that they may not receive disaster assistance for flooding because it ..read more

Large storms like the kind we saw in 2022 can present unique challenges to Canadian insurers Storm damage on Merivale Road at Viewmount Drive caused by the May 2022 Derecho that struck the city of Ottawa. (Josh Robillard – Wikkimedia Commons)   Preliminary numbers for 2022 Canadian insured disaster losses are in (or out), and they’re not pretty. According to Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ) 15 declared events classed as ‘cats’ (i.e. each driving losses of a minimum of $30 million insured, up from $25 million previously) resulted in preliminary insured losses of $3.1 b ..read more

As one of the most purchased types of insurance, many auto insurance holders do not realize that the premium they pay is not a permanently set price. Insurance companies factor in a number of variables when deciding the price of a policy. Over time, these factors can change for an individual driver which can affect the price of the policy. Experts suggest that consumers reassess their auto insurance policy each year or if there has been a sudden change in their personal situation that will affect the price they pay as well as their coverage. If you have auto insurance, below are a number of s ..read more

You might have noticed an increase in your car insurance rates in Alberta over the last few years. Unfortunately, the repair of vehicles is more expensive than ever and there are still a large number of crashes, especially in Calgary and Edmonton. So what can be done to lower your car insurance rates in Alberta? While you might not be able to control your premiums completely, there are some things you can do to keep your car insurance rates as low as possible. This includes: Only Submit a Claim when necessary. Drive safely and follow the rules. Drive less. Try to avoid missing payments. Try no ..read more

Edmonton definitely lives up to its nickname, “Gateway to the North.” Being the fifth largest city in Canada and the home of almost 1 million people, Edmonton is flourishing. Together with its infrastructure growth and population, there is an increase in vehicles on Edmonton’s roads. All these drivers need to get around, and there’s no shortage of roads to get anywhere; with a network of connecting roads, you can get from Summerside to St. Albert with ease. Whether you’re taking a road trip across the prairies or commuting daily via Calgary Trail, all Edmonton drivers require car insurance. Ra ..read more

There is no doubt that cheaper auto insurance in Calgary can be got in a number of ways. While a little bit of effort and time needs to be taken out of your day in order to achieve it, you should be able to come away with some more affordable quotes to choose from when seeking a suitable policy for your auto insurance needs. One of the most obvious things to do is to spend time considering a number of different quotes before you pick one. Do not pick the first one that sails before your eyes. Instead, consider at least five or six high-quality quotes before you are willing to choose something ..read more

In Calgary, driving isn’t always easy. Drivers must face weather that can change quickly, and heavy traffic during rush hours. Regardless, you’ll always require car insurance, whether you are a daily commuter, weekend adventurer, or occasional driver. Average Car Insurance Costs in Calgary and Alberta Although Alberta has a private insurance market, the insurance rates themselves are still managed by the provincial government. There are two agencies in Alberta that oversee car insurance rates: The Automobile Insurance Rate Board and the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance. In 2004, Albe ..read more

Insurance needs Real-Time now to benefit from lower costs and immediate confirmation between all stake-holders in the insurance distribution vertical. However, Real-Time transactions are too rare in insurance. The most obvious example is D2C insurers who have stepped up their game with customers. Real-Time is More Than Quote and Buy But what about Real-Time transactions for other participants in the insurance distribution vertical? Reinsurers, brokers, agents? Real-Time in this article is truly Real-Time, not Real-Time Quote OR Quote and Buy. This is Real-Time Quote-Buy-Change-Renew-Cancellati ..read more

Passenger vehicles are producing unprecedented amounts of data as more and more ‘connected cars’ hit the road. Whoever controls that data could be destined to control the future of auto insurance as well. Canadian insurers have been looking to profit off of so-called ‘telematics’ data since at least 2014 when telematics data collection was in its infancy and largely relegated to the rental car industry. Seven years later, Teresa Scassa says “what we are heading into now is just a completely different universe” in terms of the sheer volume of data being amassed. We are witnessing the “start of ..read more