Insurance Blogs hosted by Canadian Underwriter
Insurance Blogs hosted by Canadian Underwriter
ICLR has just released its latest five-year plan, which sets out the Institute’s research and engagement strategy for the period 2017 through 2021. Over the plan period, ICLR will continue to focus on providing research that supports action by public…
When an insurance representative makes the decision to bind a new homeowner’s policy, does he/she have all the information needed in order to get a full picture of the risk before it is taken onto the company’s balance sheet? Said…
Moral hazard can be found in many places but, ironically, much of it is created by the very existence of insurance. What’s more, outside sources of moral hazard can affect insurance – and insurers – greatly (though usually indirectly). According…
One of the problems with large natural disasters like Fort McMurray is that much smaller ones can pile up with little notice and no fanfare. This seems to be what’s happening in Canada this year. As all eyes have been…
A small city that wasn’t designed to burn was put up in the middle of the Boreal forest that was designed to burn. Are we simply going to put Fort McMurray back the way it was? Fortunately for insureds in…
Unlike the 2013 flood in southern Alberta, the Fort McMurray wildfire is a heavily insured event. Considering that property insurance got its roots in fire (indeed it used to be widely known as ‘fire insurance’, still is in certain circles,…
ICLR has been successful in gaining official authorization to allow a noted wildfire researcher behind police cordons to investigate the resilience to wildfire of certain homes in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Alan Westhaver is looking into the reasons why clusters of…
Along with claiming a reported 49 lives (at time of posting), injuring thousands and causing between $1.7- and $2.9 billion in insured damage (according to AIR), the April 14 (UTC) 6.4Mw and April 15 (UTC) 7.0Mw earthquakes in Kumamoto, Japan…
You’ve probably heard this little chestnut on at least a few occasions: “Our underground storm sewers can’t handle the rainfall we get these days.” The implication is that under climate change and with increased runoff in urban centres from the…
A couple of posts ago (Why ‘just-in-time’ insurance would be a non-starter) I answered a question that I get asked at least a few times a year: ‘Why not allow consumers to purchase insurance just before a foreseeable loss is…
When sanitary sewers back up into basements, the knee-jerk reaction by homeowners (and many insurers) is to blame the state of the local public infrastructure. Homeowners will almost always point the finger at their local government, even before they know…
A few times a year I get approached by someone asking the question: Why not allow consumers to purchase insurance just before a foreseeable loss is about to occur or immediately after it has occurred? Such suggestions always come from…
A recent article published in The Guardian about flood governance in the UK got me thinking about the issue here at home. And while I wouldn’t go as far as that article and call the oversight and management of flood…
In an age where losses from severe weather are driving changes to homeowners’ policies that are not always seen as positive to insureds, it might be time to think about giving homeowners the option of a cheaper insurance product that…