YINAC Insurance Center

Royal Canadian Mint to file claim related to unreconciled gold

2009-06-29T21:15:23Z

The Royal Canadian Mint intends to file a claim under its all risks insurance policy to offset approximately Cdn$15.3 million worth of unreconciled gold.
The Mint commissioned Deloitte and Touche to conduct an audit to determine if the unreconciled difference in gold was the result of an accounting or transaction recording error.
The report concluded: "[T]he unaccounted-for difference in gold does not appear to relate to an accounting error in the reconciliation process, an accounting error in the physical stock count schedules or an accounting error in the recordkeeping of transactions during the year."
The Mint has requested the assistance of the RCMP to investigate the matter.

Deloitte and Touche's report touches on three areas for the Mint to consider in connection with its risk management practices:
• a technical review of operations;
• an accounting review of prior periods; and
• security reviews.
"In response to the report's recommendations, the Mint has engaged third parties to assist the Corporation in its review of specific aspects of its operations, including refinery processes and internal controls," said Ian E. Bennett, president and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint.

Fundamentals of Insurance will have online exams

2009-06-02T00:08:14Z

I am just noticed that IBABC is developing the online exam system for Fundamentals of Insurance.

The regular exam is handled at the IBABC office in Vancouver, Monday through Friday, three time slots each day. If you lived outside the Lower Mainland, you waited. You waited for a monthly exam date to roll around, you waited for your exam to be shipped back to IBABC for marking, and then you waited for those results to be returned to you by mail.

After the new online system released, it will be pretty easy for everyone to access at any time and any day.

How to marketing your Insurance Agent Site

2009-03-30T06:47:57Z

Here is some tips for you to do the online marketing for your Insurance Agent Site.

1) Submit to Insurance Directory
Yinac Insurance Directory.
G2links Directory - Insurance Category

2) Join some Insurance Forum
You need signup to get an account. Then participate into the topic. Put your site as signature.

3) Browse Insurance Blog, and leave your comment.
Normally it will show your site there.

It takes time. You may not see the result right away.

U.S. P&C loss reserves depleted by nearly US$14 billion in 2008: Moody's

2009-03-20T21:48:53Z

Loss reserves for the U.S. property and casualty insurance industry may have depleted by up to US$14 billion in 2008, according to a new report by Moody's Investors Service.
In its report, U.S. P&C Insurers' Reserve Adequacy Shrinks, Moody's estimates the U.S. P&C industry carried about US$5 billion to US$12 billion in excess loss reserves entering 2008. As of the end of the third quarter, about US$9 billion of this had been depleted.
"Based on an early look at regulatory financial statements, the pattern of reducing loss reserves accelerated in the fourth quarter, with a total of about [US]$14 billion in reserves being released for the year," says the report's author, vice president Paul Bauer.

The reduction in loss reserve strength warrants caution for two reasons, Bauer says.
First, it implies lower profits for 2009, because property and casualty companies will be much less able to bolster current calendar-year earnings by using prior-year reserve releases, which has been the case in the recent past. "Secondly," the analyst states, "the decline in reserve adequacy implies a further weakening of balance sheet strength in what is already a difficult market environment."
Bauer concludes the overall trend is negative and that "insurers have fully harvested their reserve redundancies, leaving them little or nothing in the way of a cushion."
But putting the matter into perspective, Bauer says Moody's still believes "the property and casualty industry's overall capital adequacy remains relatively strong, with generally conservative underwriting leverage and with adequate -- although no longer comfortably redundant -- reserve levels."
As a result, he continues, "we would not expect to take any broad rating actions in the near- or medium-terms based solely on this trend."
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Investors acquire ING Canada

2009-03-16T17:00:21Z

ING Canada is rebranding as Intact Financial Corporation following the acquisition of the company from its previous Dutch owners.

The now wholly Canadian company owns online insurance brand Belairdirect, 50-plus insurer Grey Power, and a brokered insurance division called ING Insurance, which is also being rebranded as Intact Insurance.

Last week, Canadian investors acquired ownership of ING Canada from Amsterdam's ING Group for approximately $2.2 billion. Its new brand won't be made official until it is approved by shareholders in May, but the brokered insurance division's rebranding is effective immediately.

"By becoming a truly Canadian and independent organization, we have the unique opportunity to launch a new brand that speaks to what consumers are looking for from an insurance company, and a brand that reinforces our customer orientation," stated Charles Brindamour, chief executive of ING Canada.

The Intact name comes from branding agency GWP, which has been working with ING companies since 1996. GWP is the longtime agency of record for ING Direct, the consumer bank that remains in the hands of the Dutch ING Group. The Toronto agency has also worked on and off with other ING brands, including Grey Power and ING Insurance, on various positioning projects.

While GWP is not the agency of record for Intact, its executive creative director Philippe Garneau said his company is "working hard to become indispensable" to the insurer by managing its brand while the new owners reorganize the client-side marketing team.

According to a release from ING Canada, "[Intact] will roll out in the upcoming weeks a comprehensive rebranding, marketing and advertising campaign across the country that will also benefit its network of 1,800 insurance brokers across the country."

It claims an 11% share of the fragmented Canadian market for property and casualty insurance, and Brindamour has hinted at plans to grow further through acquisitions. ING Group, meanwhile, still owns ING Bank of Canada, a separate subsidiary operating as ING Direct. --Jeromy Lloyd with files from Canadian Press

Handle insurance yourself

2009-03-01T08:19:15Z

As we know, insurance will cover you when something happen, just like an umbrella.

Do not turn too much over to a junior. If you do, it may cost your firm a lot of money. A junior can do very little that's really important.

You can be relieved of some routine chores such as making certain that endorsements changing your policies are received and liability insurance cards for new vehicles have been obtained; however, the junior cannot be expected to know when a change in your business or a purchase may necessitate altering one or more policies or buying a new one.

So, let a junior look after the minor details, but keep the control in your own hands.

It is so important. If the material change in your firm, but not inform insurance company, it may void your policy.

How to prevent water damage

2009-02-19T07:26:42Z

For home owner, water damage is very common.
So to do something to prevent water damage is so important for homeowner policy holder.

There are three places needed to be done.

1) Outdoors

Clear eavestroughs of leaves and other debris at least once a year - later fall is a good time.

If you have asphalt shingles, make sure they are not deteriorated, worn or curling

Packing your garden hose away for the winter? Don't forget to drain the pipe.

2) Indoors

Replace plastic or rubber water supply lines connecting appliances or plumbing fixtures in your home with flexible steel braided hoses.

If you're away for more than four consecutive days at a time during the regular heating season, have someone check the heating system daily - or shut off the water and drain the pipes before you leave.

Make sure your attic is properly insulated and ventilated

Consider connecting your plumbing and heating system to a 24-hour monitored alarm service

3) In the basement

The basement is often the first place you'll experience water damage

Keep floor drains unobstructed - and be sure not to cover them

Store items in plastic storage containers on raised shelving

Always check your basement for leaks after heavy rainfall or a rapid thaw

The above water damage tips is provided by ING insurance.

Construction Definitions from Wawanesa BIP policy

2009-01-06T20:47:57Z

Fire Resistive, Modified Fire Resistive and Masonry Noncombustible.

Fire Resistive: Buildings where the exterior walls, floors and roof are of masonry or other fire resistive materials with a fire resistive rating of not less than two hours.

Modified Fire Resistive: Buildings where the exterior walls, floors and roof are masonry or other fire resistive materials with a fire resistive rating of not less than one hour.

Masonry Noncombustible: Buildings where the exterior walls are of brick, concrete, gypsum block, hollow or solid concrete block, stone, tile or similar materials, with floors and roof of unprotected metal or other noncombustible materials.

Joisted Masonry and Noncombustible
Joisted Masonry: Buildings where the exterior walls are of masonry materials such as brick, concrete, gypsum block, hollow or solid concrete block, stone, tile or similar materials, with floors and roof of wood or other combustible materials.

Noncombustible: Buildings employing a system of prefabricated steel framing members. The roof is usually constructed of metal panels and the exterior walls of metal siding, sandwich panels or masonry materials. Light noncombustible construction is sometimes referred to as pre-engineered.

Munich Re reports decline in Q3 profit

2008-11-07T23:10:41Z

Munich Re Group posted a net income of €12 million (about Cdn$18 million) for 2008 Q3, a sharp decline from the 2007 Q3 profit of €1.2 billion (about Cdn$1.8 billion). The group reported a 66% decrease in investment income from €1.9 billion (about Cdn$2.9 billion) in 2007 Q3 to €674 million (about CDn$1.02 billion) in 2008 Q3. Net earned premium for the group was €8.9 billion (about Cdn$13.5 billion) in the quarter, marking a 1% gain over the same period of 2007. Its reinsurance segment reported a combined operating ratio of 101.3%, an increase from 2007 Q3's 97.1%. Gross written premium for the property and casualty reinsurance lines was €3.7 billion (about Cdn$5.6 billion). "The biggest loss events of the third quarter were the Hurricanes Ike and Gustav," a release says. "The total burden before tax was approximately €300 million (about Cdn$454 million) from Ike and around €90 million (about Cdn$136 million) from Gustav." The combined operating ratio for the group's primary p&c insurance segment was 88.7%, marking an improvement over 2007 Q3's 92.1%. The segment's premiums climbed by 5.2% to €4.7billion (about Cdn$7.11 billion), driven mainly by international business with a growth rate of 11.7%.

Indicators for determining survival of insurance companies during financial crisis

2008-10-24T17:51:11Z

When it comes to using a reliable indicator to figure out which Canadian P&C insurance company is best-positioned to survive the worst financial crisis to hit the North American markets since the Great Depression era, does size matter?
The answer, as expressed to brokers attending the 88th annual general meeting of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO), depends on how big the insurance company is.
Smaller insurance companies represented at the IBAO's annual CEO panel, as measured by direct premiums written, believed size doesn't matter when determining solvency.
Just because an insurance company is large doesn't mean it isn't vulnerable, noted Kevin McNeil, the president and CEO of the Gore Mutual Insurance Company.
McNeil noted AIG, "the largest insurer in the world," seemed an improbable candidate for bankruptcy, and yet it survived insolvency only thanks to a recent US$85-billion loan from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
"The question is going to be: Are there going to be any [more] casualties?'" McNeil noted. "And if you go to the newspapers or watch TV, you'll hear a CEO of a major company stand up there and say, 'My company's fine, no problem, we'll survive this, we'll be okay.' And then you hear two or three days or a week later that that company went bankrupt."
So if public statements can't be taken at face value, how does a broker know which of its insurance markets are strong and which are not?
McNeil told brokers attending the CEO panel that the best strategy for determining financial strength in these unpredictable times is to monitor, on a regular basis, the Minimum Capital Test (MCT) scores of Canadian P&C insurers.
Quarterly MCT scores are publicly available on the Web site of Canada's solvency regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions.
Simply put, MCT scores are a measure of an insurers' available capital divided by its minimum capital requirement. The answer is expressed as a percentage, and OSFI requires a property and casualty insurer to maintain a minimum MCT score of 150%.
Gore Mutual's MCT score in 2008 Q2 (the latest available figures) was 278%, whereas the other companies represented on the panel had 2008 Q2 MCT scores of 207.55% (Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company), 184.83% (ING Insurance Company of Canada) and 181.71% (AXA Insurance Canada).
Not surprisingly, though, the largest companies represented on the panel (in terms of direct premium written) jumped in at McNeil's remarks and reiterated that size does matter.
"I wanted to address the comment that Kevin made about having an MTC ratio that is significantly higher than any other company, which, if you look at it in analytical terms in Ontario it's probably a Cdn$300-million requirement," said ING Insurance president Derek Iles. "And, if I may be so bold to say, that would be a rounding error at ING."

International insurance regulators intensify coordination in response to financial turmoil

2008-09-22T21:46:25Z

Following the U.S. Federal Reserve's US$85-billion bailout of the American International Group Inc., the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) says it is "taking steps to intensify supervisory coordination efforts in response to the current financial market turmoil."
Key insurance supervisors from around the globe were recently updated on matters relating to American International Group (AIG) and agreed they would hold regular conference calls in the coming weeks to monitor solutions to supervisory issues, the IAIS announced in a press release.

Michel Flamée, IAIS chairman of the executive committee, noted: "Since the financial community is so inter-linked, financial supervisors must continue to cooperate closely in order to protect policyholders around the world."
In describing recent events, Eric Dinallo, New York's insurance superintendent, noted AIG's insurance operations represent only one small part of the broad international reach of AIG.
"While AIG has many large insurance operations within its corporate structure, it is a financial services conglomerate," Dinallo observed in a statement. "The current crisis is a result of AIG's non-insurance related business.
"The Federal Reserve's rescue offer would likely not have been made if it were not for the core value of AIG's insurance subsidiaries, which exists due to sound solvency regulation and oversight provided by IAIS members worldwide."
Meanwhile, Canada's solvency regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), reiterated the capital position of AIG's Canadian operations.
"AIG's business in Canada includes seven companies, all of which continue to be authorized to accept and do business in Canada," OSFI noted in a statement. "They continue to meet or exceed their regulatory capital or invested asset requirements."
In response to a question about whether the crisis would result in any potential changes to the capital requirements for Canadian insurers, OSFI's statement further noted: "Regarding capital requirements, there are no changes envisioned at this time. We believe the current regulatory requirements are appropriate."

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Legal principles of business insurance

2008-09-21T20:58:04Z

Buying insurance is subject to a different rule of law than buying things such as buildings, cars, or refrigerators.

The general rule applicable to most purchases is "let the buyer beware." This has been much modified in these days of consumerism but still applies to many sales between private individuals, which is why you should be very careful buying a secondhand car from someone you don't know.

Insurance, by contrast, is subject to the rule of the "utmost good faith"

This means in practice that a business person taking out insurance must tell the insurance broker everything that would affect an underwriter's judgement in deciding whether or not to issue a policy or what premium to charge.

Just as the lawyers say, the applicant must disclose all the material facts. If these are not disclosed and the actual situation comes to light following a loss, the insurance company can say in effect "the risks are not what you said they were" _ and they don't have to pay. So come clean or you will probably have a useless piece of paper instead of policy worth thousands of dollars.

So the question comes here, what facts are material?

Naturally if there is an application form, answers to the questions will reveal many of them. But there may be some special features of your business not covered by the application and you must reveal these also. Previsous claims are important for all kinds of insurance, conviction of serious motoring offences for automobile insurance, the presence of flammable substances on your premises for fire insurance, and so on. Be safe rather than sorry; tell the full story.

Top 10-quoted hybrid cars in 2008

2008-09-08T08:42:07Z

Kanetix.ca has released the top 10 most popular hybrids quoted for 2008, as determined by auto insurance quotes sought on the site.
The top 10-quoted hybrids for the first six months of 2008 are:
• Toyota Prius
• Honda Civic Hybrid
• Toyota Camry Hybrid
• Ford Escape Hybrid
• Toyota Highlander Hybrid
• Lexus RX400h
• Honda Accord Hybrid
• Nissan Altima Hybrid
• Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid
• Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid
With the rising cost of gas prices, the hybrid market seems to be steadily rising as well, according to a kanetix.ca release.
"In the first six months of 2008, hybrid auto insurance quotes on our site have already reached 74% of 2007's total," George Small, co-founder of kanetix.ca, explains in the release. "If the trend continues, 2008's total hybrid quote activity should not only match 2007 but actually exceed it by almost 50%."
Hybrids are marketed as an environmentally friendly way to save you gas money, Gregory Ellis, co-founder of kanetix.ca notes in the release. "Of course, when it comes to money-saving potential there are other considerations, too -- like the cost of insurance."

Risks for oil business increase while risk management effectiveness decreases; study finds

2008-08-14T21:48:02Z

National oil companies (NOCs) are failing to manage the risks of limited oil and gas resources, the recruitment and retention of a qualified workforce and energy price volatility, according to a Marsh study.
In the Marsh Oil and Gas Risk Report: 2008, more than 400 NOCs were surveyed and asked to rate the relevance of risks identified by the World Economic Forum and how effectively they felt they were managed by their firms.
The participants ranked the top five risks in order as: availability of oil and gas resources; recruitment and retention of a qualified workforce; energy price volatility; environmental impact of operations; and political/regulatory risk issues.
Marsh's NOC risk index score rose from 4.49 out of a possible six in 2007 to 4.51 in 2008, a release says.
"By contrast, the risk management effectiveness index score was 3.8."
The availability of resources as a risk issue was rated 5.3 out of a possible six (it was also the top-ranked risk in 2007 but with a rating of 4.9), a Marsh release says.
"It is no surprise that our survey has found that national oil companies are facing a riskier business environment," said Jim Pierce, Marsh's Global Energy practice leader.
"However, of more concern is the gap between the importance of the risk and how well it is managed."
This gap is increasing from year-to-year, Pierce noted.

Alberta decision projected to increase bodily injury claims costs by 29%

2008-06-12T22:41:47Z

An actuarial report estimates bodily injury claims costs are expected to increase 29% -- implying an estimated 10.8% increase in the basic auto insurance premium -- following a decision in which the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench eliminated the province's Cdn$4,000 cap on payments for damages related to minor auto injuries.
The estimate is contained in a report submitted by the actuarial consulting firm Oliver Wyman Ltd. to the Alberta Automobile Insurance Rate Board.
The board will consider the report in deciding on the annual industry-wide rate level adjustment to become effective on Nov. 1, 2008.
Oliver Wyman's predictions were based in part on the findings contained in a 2004 KPMG report to the Alberta finance department. In it, KPMG found that out of the total 30.2% savings in bodily injury claims presented in the report, 21.3% -- or 70.5% of the total -- was due to the cap on minor injuries and the balance, 8.9%, was for non-cap-related auto insurance reforms.
"We assume this same relative split of costs, 70.5% versus 29.5%, is applicable today," Oliver Wyman notes. "As we estimate the minor injury cap to have resulted in a savings in bodily injury claim costs of 21.6%, we estimate that the repeal of the cap will result in an increase in bodily injury claim costs of 27.6% (1 divided by .784)."

The Oliver Wyman report also assumes the repeal of Alberta's minor injury cap "will cause a reversal" of the trend towards lower severity rates during the post-reform period. As a result, it adjusted its estimate of the increase in future bodily injury claim costs from 27.6% to 29.0%.
"We note that this estimate is intended to provide for future claims and does not provide for claims that had occurred prior to the decision by the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench," the Oliver Wyman report notes.