Results tagged “Canada”

The government of Canada has published the regulations surrounding low-Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) automotive refinishing products.
The regulations introduce VOC concentration limits for 14 categories of coatings and surface cleaners, which are used for refinishing or repairing the painted surfaces of automobiles, trucks, and other mobile equipment, according to Environment Canada's Web site.
The regulations will come into force on June 18, 2010 -- one year after the regulations were registered -- to allow for a transition period for automotive and refinishing product manufacturers and importers, according to Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Concentration Limits for Automotive Refinishing Products Regulations.

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%.

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."

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Canada's unemployment insurance (EI) premiums will fall by almost 4 percent next year, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Thursday.

Canada's Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced it.

The rate for employees will fall to $1.73 from $1.80 per $100 of insurable earnings. Employers will have to pay $2.42 instead of $2.52 per $100 of insurable earnings.

Health care costs in Canada are very expensive. Hospitals can charge thousands of dollars per day, with many Canadian hospitals charging a service fee to patients not covered under a provincial health care program.

So International student need this kind of Hospital and Medical insurance plan.

But who is eligible for this insurance?
1) You must be enrolled for a minimum of 60% of the usual course requirements in a Canadian school, college, university or accredited educational institution.

2) You must also be a resident of Canada on a temporary basis.

3) You are also eligible if you have completed your studies and remain up to a year in Canada to work in the field of your studies.

4) You can insure your spouse and children under your policy.

Sounds good.

What about the age limits?
Cover age is available for persons from 15 days to 64 years.

And sometimes you will have a trip outside Canada, does it cover it?
Yes, you are covered for acute emergency sickness or injury on trips outside of Canada up to 30 days in duration.

There are much capital in Canadian reinsurance market.

Some prediction is that soft market will be longer five more years.

Canada’s reinsurance market is flush with enough capital to sustain a soft market for another five years, according to a reinsurance broker speaking at a Professional Liability Underwriter Society (PLUS) Canada chapter education seminar in Toronto.
“I believe, firstly, that the soft market has a long, long way to go down yet,” said Jonathan Beach of Beach & Associates Ltd. “The reason I say that is that there is so much capital swishing around in the market.”
“Barring catastrophes, which are obviously impossible to predict, I believe we are in for another five years of a softening market,” he said.

Canada’s soft market: five more years?

Do you think the Auto Manufacture will get involved into Auto Insurance market? I have not. Now, it may come into East Canada. See news below.

Toyota Canada Inc. is eyeing the car insurance market as part of an aggressive expansion plan, reports the Globe and Mail.
The giant vehicle manufacturer already offers insurance in several other countries, including Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Australia and Thailand, the paper reported.
“If everything goes well, we want to [offer insurance] within a year,” Toyota president Yoichi Tomihara told the Globe and Mail.
While most vehicle manufacturers in Canada have financial services arms, Toyota would be the first to enter the auto insurance market, although its presence would probably be limited to Ontario, Alberta and Atlantic Canada, where the auto insurance market is private, the paper added.
Ryan Lee, a professor in the department of risk management and insurance at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, commented on the potential move to the Globe and Mail.
Lee told the paper the ability to sell insurance through an existing dealership network would give an auto manufacturer a major advantage at the outset, but it is not clear to what extent such a move would shake up the market.

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Canadian Underwriter's April 2006 Web Poll asked the question:

Should whistleblowers in an insurance company receive immunity from sanction after leaking internal, confidential information about high-risk activities to insurance regulators?

From Canadian Insurance July/August issue, you may know that Lloyd's of London pay out more in claims than they took in last year.

Lloyd's chairman Lord Peter Levene said that Canada is his second-largest overseas market, has been causing "a few frown lines."

He pointed out that in 2005, Lloyd's underwriters paid some "significant" claims arising out of a variety of risks - a fire at an Alberta oil sands facility, a U.S. securities action against a major Canadian financial institution and the August rainstorm in Ontarioi. As well, this year Lloyd's has shared in the almost $70 million in insured damages arising out of the Queen of the North ferry sinking.

Many feel travel insurance is worth the cost

MISSISSAUGA, October 15, 2003 - An RBC Insurance/Ipsos-Reid study shows that while 84 per cent of Canadians believe buying travel insurance is worth the cost for their peace of mind on their vacation, only 60 per cent of people who travelled outside Canada or the U.S. in the past three years actually purchased travel insurance.

"Emergencies can happen at any time, even to the most well-prepared traveller," said Stan Seggie, president and CEO of the travel insurance division of RBC Insurance. "Travel insurance is designed to provide coverage for everything from trip cancellation and interruption to emergency medical assistance and baggage loss. It can really help ensure one bad experience does not ruin your trip or leave you with extensive unforeseen costs to cover."