Commercial Insurance

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1 INSURANCE DEFENCE Canadian Defence Lawyers has named Langley, B.C. lawyer Jan Lindsay this year s recipient of its Lee Samis Award. The honour, which recognizes exceptional contributions and achievements by its members, was named after the founding president of Lindsay CDL. Lindsay, who was called to the bar in 1981, has been a partner with the law firm Lindsay Kenney since Her practice focuses on civil litigation with an emphasis on insurance matters. THIS & THAT J Eric Smith has been appointed president and CEO of Swiss Re Americas following the retirement of Pierre Ozendo. Smith will be responsible for the company s p&c and life and health businesses in the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean Vancouver s Can- Sure Underwriting has moved to West Brindamour Pender St., Vancouver, B.C. V6C 2V6. The phone number remains and the info@ can-sure.com Charles Brindamour, president and CEO of Intact Financial Corporation, has been appointed chair of the board of the Insurance Bureau of Canada Jim Christie, who has extensive experience as a senior insurance executive, is the new president of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. He recently retired as a partner with Ernst & Christie Young in Toronto, where he led the firm s Canadian p&c actuarial practice The Insurance Bureau of Canada says the insured damage caused by the Slave Lake, Continued on page 53 The package Commercial Insurance Our commercial insurance products are designed to meet the needs of small and medium businesses across a multitude of industries, including: Manufacturing Wholesale Retail Trades Services Contact your Wawanesa representative for all your commercial property, liability and automobile needs. Auto Home Business Farm Life and Group Insurancewest September CARFL_4859_CAR005_OL.indd 1 8/20/08 4:03:22 PM

2 tradetalk With Jim Bensley Hacked Kathy Slocombe of New Westminster, B.C., east of Vancouver, rose before 5 a.m., Thursday, June 23 to consult her computer. She and her mother Anne were flying to Chicago later that morning, and she wanted to check weather conditions in the Windy City and confirm the flight s departure time. Before doing so, however, she peeked at an from her husband in London, England. He was in trouble. I have been mugged, wrote Barry Slocombe, senior adjuster with B.C. s Rush Claims Solutions, and all my belongings, cash, cellphone and credit cards were stolen at gunpoint. He appealed for money. Most wives would be horrified by such news. Kathy, a human resources consultant, was puzzled. If Barry had just gotten rolled in London, who was that man in her bed, snoring like a chainsaw? Let s ask Barry. I was curled up in bed, enjoying a few extra minutes of beauty sleep, he testifies, when I heard Kathy calling my name. She was Barry and Kathy Slocombe about six inches from my face. Barry wasn t in London, of course, but where he had rested his noggin the night previous in the Slocombes matrimonial chamber. As you may have guessed, and as the couple later learned, the e- mail account had been hacked. The plea for cash had been sent to about 1,500 recipients, most of them in Canada, a few in the U.S. Over the next five hours, Slocombe received 51 phone calls and 35 s from personal friends and business contacts. One of the calls was from Insurancewest magazine, which had also been notified of the adjuster s plight. Suckers for a sob story, we passed around the hat and converted the total into an international money order. Most were truly concerned that I was okay and that this was indeed a hoax, he says. A smaller group offered funds. My biggest fear suddenly became that someone would actually believe it and respond to the phone number and, worse yet, offer up their financial information. By noon, IT people had been notified, as were the security and abuse departments of Google/Gmail. Barry s password was changed. All my contacts and current s were lost. Not lost, thankfully, was Barry Slocombe s willingness to find some good news amongst the bad. What began as a bad day, he says, turned out to be a good day by virtue of the callers and ers who really cared about my personal wellbeing. We re all happy you re in good working order, Barry, and pleased that you remain in possession of all limbs and digits. But when might our contribution be returned? IW marine division TF F PO Box 370, Salmon Arm, BC V1E 4N5 property & liability division TF F # St. Langley, BC V2Y 3B3 prairie division P F sskett@beacon724.com A flexible underwriting company, insuring more than just boats. Mobile Home Program Special Event Liability Hole-In-One Hard to Place Homeowners Bed & Breakfast Program High Value Homeowners Program Resorts & Lodges Pleasurecraft Marine Adventure Tourism Liability - Commercial Property &/or Liability Vacant Risks Motor Truck Cargo Builder s Risk Directors & Officers Liability Host Liquor Liablity 52 September 2011 Insurancewest

3 streettalk Continued from page 51 Alta. wildfires will total more than $700 million, making it the second costliest insured disaster in Canadian history. The costliest was the 1998 ice storm that hit Ontario and Quebec, which cost $1.8 billion Craig Johns, VP of the energy division at Johns Calgary s Renfrew Insurance, has been appointed its sales and business development leader. Also at Renfrew, Jaime Tempeny, who has been working as a broker for the past decade in the oil and gas sector, has joined Renfrew s energy division. Theresa Bratz, a personal lines and commercial lines veteran, has been welcomed to the firm s Realty division Susanne Craig has been appointed VP, human resources, and Mike Alwyn has been promoted to Moran assistant VP, commercial risk division, at Cunningham Lindsey Canada Claims Services Martin Moran of FirstOnSite is in transition from his role as director of business development for Ontario to his new role as director of business development for Western Canada. He is now working out of his Vancouver office and his address mmoran@firstonsite remains unchanged. However, he does have a new cellphone number: Robert Landry, a longtime p&c industry exec, former IBC board member and past-chair of the Insurance Institute of Canada, has been elected as a director of the Wawanesa Landry Mutual Insurance Company, the Wawanesa Life Insurance Company and Wawanesa General Insurance Company. IW a d v e r t i s e r i n d e x Advance Claims... 9 Aurora Underwriting Axa Pacific Beacon Underwriting Canstar Restorations... 8 Carfra & Lawton CDRG CIP Ins. Institute of Canada... 4 Cunningham Lindsey Encon Guardian Risk ICBC Jevco... 6 Monarch Insurance...11 On Side Restoration Pal Insurance Peace Hills Insurance Portage Mutual RSA... 3 TIC Travel Insurance... 2 TSW Management Wawanesa Winmar Restoration O t h e r Litigation Forum H e l p i n g H a n d s Aviva Axa Pacific Chutter Underwriting Family Insurance Hub ICBC Intact Insurance Red River Mutual RSA Sovereign General I n d u s t r y S u p p l i e r s Compu-Quote Custom Software Grant MacEwan Keal Technology Kimbley Systems Specs GAIL FISHER Claims Manager, Southern Alberta Bob Doiron Vice-President, Claims, is pleased to welcome Gail Fisher in her new role as Southern Alberta Claims Manager in our Calgary office. Gail has been with Peace Hills Insurance for 10 years. In her most recent role she was our resident Staff Adjuster in Red Deer. Gail s broad base of experience in all areas of claims has made her an ideal candidate for her new position as Manager. Gail has been involved with the Alberta Association of Insurance Adjusters and Blue Goose, having served on the executive of both organizations where she has garnered the respect of our insurance community. Peace Hills is a Western Canadian Company writing in excess of $165 million in property and casualty business in four western provinces and the territories. OUR POLICY IS WORKING FOR YOU peacehillsinsurance.com Announcing a new member of the team Mark Blucher, senior vice president of Insurance, is pleased to announce the appointment of Tim Courtney as vice president of Commercial Insurance. TIM COURTNEY VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMERCIAL INSURANCE Mr. Courtney is a Chartered Insurance Professional with over 30 years of experience in the commercial insurance industry. He most recently served as vice president of Corporate Underwriting and Product and Service Innovations at Markel Insurance, a leading insurance company for the trucking industry. At Markel, Mr. Courtney was responsible for underwriting infrastructure and governance, as well as the development of highly customized insurance and risk management advisory solutions. His extensive experience also includes 15 years with Zurich Canada s Commercial Lines Underwriting group, with the last two years as vice president of Underwriting. Mr. Courtney s depth of experience in product design, development and pricing for the commercial market will strengthen ICBC s approach to working with customers in this key market segment. icbc.com We re driven to ensure the well-being of drivers. We re working to keep rates low and stable, providing hassle-free service, and proactively partnering to reduce crashes and loss. Insurancewest September

4 stan Sauerwein techwatch Technology continues to find its way into vehicle insurance, through end results. We recently noted several examples. In one case it s via accident prevention. A new study by the Highway Loss Data Institute in the U.S. has found that 2010 Volvo XC60s outfitted with a standard collision avoidance feature called City Safety are less likely to be involved in low-speed, front-to-rear crashes than other mid-sized SUVs. Volvo claims this is the first system to address more common crashes at speeds of less than 20 mph. The system doesn t warn the driver that a crash is imminent. It just automatically brakes to avoid a front-torear crash by using an infrared laser sensor built into the windshield to monitor the area in front of the SUV when travelling at speeds of about two to 19 mph. In another case of technology and cars, theft investigators in Calgary report thieves have learned to use technology to steal more high-end vehicles there. Technology is also abetting the sale of stolen vehicles without using a chop shop. Apparently the thieves use a straw buyer to purchase a vehicle legitimately offered for sale. The straw buyer uses a computer-generated fake bank draft for the purchase, then the thieves alter the VIN so the vehicle can be re-registered and sold. They often use private registries and online ad sites to find victims. They ve worked out the kinks, so tracking their identities is nearly impossible. Wally Purcells, director of auto theft in Western Canada for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, says making it an offence to alter or remove a VIN could help clip this new tactic in the bud. In another case, Fujitsu Pen Tablets are now being used by Manitoba Public Insurance appraisers. By the systems integration of Fibitron Systems Group and software from Mitchell International, MPI has been able to implement the first drivethrough insurance claims facility in North America. Using RF wireless technology from Proxim, this new system enables appraisers to examine vehicles and process claims while Ingenuity continues to surprise with a customer. It s a dramatic shift for MPI. For many years its estimates were manually created. The appraiser collected data, usually on a pad of paper or a bar code reader, then returned to the office to calculate the estimate. The advanced features of the Stylistic computer, integrated with Proxim s wireless local area network, mean the appraiser can enter information with a stylus at the vehicle, consider labour costs and parts prices, and then write an estimate. Claimants can get an on-screen review of the tally right at the vehicle. Before, appraisers would work within the limits of a desktop network in order to get a job done, says Will Kukelko, the insurer s director of physical damage. Now the network moves with the appraiser, so we can process claims more quickly. The automated system has also delivered unexpected benefits when customers have questions. Appraisers can send estimates to an indoor printer for an adjuster to read. The adjuster is then able to review the relevant info and provide answers immediately. MPI has 52 pen tablets in use now, but it plans to soon grow that to 100 units so it can give its entire network of offices in Manitoba the same capability. Right now the tablets can t capture photos or use corporate-wide , but MPI is working on that, too. Tech advances are making it easier to steal and sell more high-end vehicles, allowing thieves to ditch the traditional tools of the trade. F F F If you didn t think using social networking to build your client list makes sense see the July TechWatch you might want to think again. Ipsos-Reid just released some stats. Its surveys indicate 50 per cent of Canadians have a social networking profile on Facebook and that Twitter and LinkedIn are quickly gaining ground. And it isn t just young people with profiles. Apparently 62 per cent of those aged 35 to 54 now have profiles and 43 per cent of people over 55 have one as well. Nearly half of online Canadians visit a social networking site at least once a week. A third of them visit one every day. IW 54 September 2011 Insurancewest istockphoto.com/twity1

5 ADVERTISERS: Lawyers Engineers Forensic Accountants Investigators Appraisers Dispute Resolution professionals Litigation Management Firms Book now! in our upcoming NOV. ISSUE Litigation Forum A SPECIAL 2011 FEATURE It s Litigation Forum time again! You are invited to participate With a display ad: at regular Insurancewest rates. And an article about your firm at no extra cost: same size as your ad! Your editorial contribution can be submitted entirely by you about your firm, your commentary and your litigation experiences. Or, if you wish, we can write the complete story for you again, no charge. Plus your online listing in the Litigation Guide at for one year, also at no charge. Litigation forum starts page 29 Distribution to 12,000 including Ontario & the Maritimes! Insurance industry decisionmakers all over Canada will receive your message with circulation to brokers, companies and adjusters. The deadline for booking space is friday, September 23. Please call Linda Helme or Jim Bensley at or Or manager@insurancewest.ca

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