Once upon a time, insurance brokers were trained. Every broker could expect comprehensive training on products, sales techniques, bookbuilding procedures and systematic business plans. It was one way carriers could support the largest and most successful distribution channel in the industry. Then it ended. “Insurance companies used to house you, feed you, and train you for two weeks,” just to... 

Systematic consistency is essential to effective claims handling, stated a claims management specialist at the 89th Annual IBAO Conference, this Friday Oct. 23, 2009.“The task we give our least attention to can become an invaluable piece of evidence later on,” said Stephen Scullion, director of professional development, Crawford Adjusters. According to Scullion, the onus is on the plaintiff... 

Insurers are relying too heavily on catastrophic models says Karen Clark, a pioneer of catastrophe modeling. Two years ago, Clark was honoured with an award certificate for the Nobel Peace prize for her work on severe weather events that contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). While Clark concedes the importance of complex decision-making models in helping to provide... 

The federal government intends to stop Canada’s banks from using their online websites to sell insurance. The announcement—which was met with cheers, and a few jeers, across the country—came more than 18 weeks after the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Services (OSFI) gave banks the green-light to sell insurance online. Robert (Bob) King, a brokerage owner in British Columbia—and...