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perspectives
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Why recruitment experts say brokers need to change their image December 3
The story: People who don’t work in the industry have a distorted view of what it’s like to be in insurance sales, a speaker said at Canadian Underwriter’s Top Broker Summit.
Frank Cain says:
To anyone wanting to enter the insurance business,
my advice would be to start with an insurance company, because that’s where your knowledge, experience and talents are eventually going to rest as a producing underwriter. One thing is clear – you will never forget your experience with a company for as long as you remain in the business. You will have a much better idea of workflow, claims processes, underwriting strategies, and how various departments look at an application when it reaches a desk. It will teach you, as a broker, that the insurer will not have to send memos requesting basic and fundamental information that was omitted from the application. You may find they will not have to do that to your work, but the message that it will bring home is that time is money and that time and trouble cost more.
Ehsan Rasul says:
Brokers can only blame themselves for the current demise of the broker channel and the image we have portrayed to the public, especially over the last decade or so. We forgot about training and mentoring new and young brokers. Instead we teach them software and systems. We transformed our young brokers into data entry agents instead of ethical professionals. Brokers are an endangered species now, gradually losing market share to direct writers and call centres because we lost our niche and unique proposition. There is still time to wake up and get back to the basics of being a broker and teaching our young brokers, otherwise we will be extinct.
Glenna Ritchie says:
Having just left the insurance industry after 36 years of service, I wouldn’t recommend
that a young person pursue a career in insurance. Employees in brokerages are overworked and underpaid. With all the mergers going on now, the focus is not on the employees. RIBO needs to oversee the lack of management in the multi-branch brokerages. The insurance industry should go back to review what it takes to retain an employee to
make their job more enjoyable. The strongest asset is your
employee and the industry doesn’t get it.
How IBC is addressing a
hard market in condo insurance
January 7
The story: Insurance Bureau of Canada is “engaging” a risk manager who can make practical recommendations to condominium corporations to reduce their risk.
Tracy says
Hiring a risk manager to help condo corporations sounds good in theory, but how helpful are they going to be if the markets aren’t quoting the residential realty at all?
Joe Stonehouse says:
For older condos, get rid of the crane toilets from the 1970’s. Unbelievably they still exist. Don’t allow unit owners to do their own plumbing (dishwashers, water filters, etc.). Hire licensed and insured plumbers. Mandatory replacement of hot water tanks at 10 years old. Water sensors that trigger shut off. These cost about $500; for a 40-unit building, this is $20,000. This is cheap considering the water damage claims. Don’t run dishwashers and washing machines when not in the unit (if renting, then advise renters).
@CdnUnderwriter l canadianunderwriter
Municipalities: another victim of the hard market? December 9
The story: Joint and several
liability is contributing in part to exorbitant increases in municipal insurance premiums, a lawyer said at Insurance Bureau of Canada’s inaugural Commercial Insurance Symposium.
Marc Dubois says:
Until proportionate liability becomes
the benchmark on which these matters are settled, the situation will not be getting any better. Also, better claims handling and response would be a step in the
right direction.
Collisions with power poles on the rise: BC Hydro December 12
The story: BC Hydro responded to 2,100 accidents involving vehicle collisions with its equipment in 2018 — a 13% increase over the five-year average.
NSIWA Insurance Awareness says:
Something a little different today. Hitting utility lines is not something I knew was tracked, so it is interesting that it is and that frequency is on the rise. Great advice on what to do if you ever are involved in an accident with a power line.
Why even cyber policies might not cover cyber losses December 13
The story: A Swiss Re director says sometimes even a straightforward cyber policy won’t always cover a data breach loss.
@LMVSLaw says:
Never assume you are covered. Period.
canadianunderwriter.ca | February 2020 9