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President & CEO Announcement
The Board of Directors of Saskatchewan Mutual Insurance Company (SMI) is pleased to announce the appointment of Shelley Wiebe.
27th, 1994, she was promoted to VP of Shelley obtained her Bachelor of Commerce in 1989, her Chartered Professional and in 2018 completed the Queen’s
successfully in Alberta, Saskatchewan and premiums of $76.6 million. As a mutual, the and annually elect the Board of Directors SMI has prospered for
.
HANDBOOK
“Even though installing a water leak detection system can help clients prevent damage and avoid claims, consumers are not yet familiar with the product and its benefits.”
monitor temperature, humidity and flow control.
Low uptake
In Canada, Aviva offers water leak detec- tion services to all of its current and new clients. The current uptake is low, involv- ing fewer than 2% of the company’s poli- cies. “Even though installing a water leak detection system can help clients prevent damage and avoid claims, consumers are not yet familiar with the product and its benefits,” the company explains.
What is the service being offered?
When an Aviva client experiences a pre- ventable water damage claim, the com- pany connects the client with one of its preferred partners; this is done once the client has experienced a preventable wa- ter damage claim. The insurer’s partners will install a water leak detection system to prevent a similar loss from occurring, allowing any affected customers to ben- efit from reduced premiums after imple- menting systems that can reduce water leak insurance claims.
For example, LeakSafe, a U.K-based water leak detection solutions company, reported that in one block of 30 luxury flats, the average annual water damage insurance claim equated to £250,000 (about C$409,000). “Eventually leak detection systems were put in place,” says Leaksafe CEO Michael Wakley. “Nine water leaks were both detected and protected, and there have been no insurance claims since then. This has led to a reduction in insurance premi- ums, which has paid for the cost of in- stalling the systems.”
Rebates offered
Rebates are available to personal lines customers who install such systems. Aviva Canada, for example, offers an ex- clusive $100 mail-in rebate from Water Protec when they install a standard elec- tronic main water shut-off system in their home. Aviva clients who install the Water Protec system may also be eligible for a premium discount; the savings would be determined on a case-by-case basis.
From a commercial lines perspective, Roberston says Ecclesiastical is still in the early days of considering a premi- um discount. “We need to have a better understanding of whether and how the technology works, and how it provides the benefits for which you are allowing the discount.”
Advisory status
Aviva and Ecclesiastical don’t see water leak detection systems becoming manda- tory in Canada anytime soon. “I don’t see regulators saying you’ll have to have this in the next three to five years,” Robertson says. “Sprinklers are mandatory. But in terms of leak monitoring and leak detec- tion, you’d have to see more data over a longer period. They could become man- datory in the long term, but we need to get more systems out there. There is still a grey area around codes and standards.”
Preferred systems
Each insurer nevertheless has its pre- ferred water leak detection partners.
“We prefer active systems that include automatic shut-off valves rather than a passive system that simply alerts that there is a leak without shutting off the water supply,” Aviva says.
Robertson feels that temperature mon- itoringisaplus,becauseithelpstoestab- lish the ambient temperature of a build- ing. Severe temperature drops could indicate that a pipe may burst, allowing the enforcement of preventative mea- sures,hesaid.Thiscanreduceinsurance risk, the cost of water leak insurance claimsandthenenableinsurerstooffer muchreducedinsurancepremiums.
Graham Jarvis’s work has appeared in The Fin- tech Times, Financial Director, FinTech Futures, ComputerWeekly, Information Age and Digitalisa- tion World.
