By Colin Simpson, IBAO CEO

This past week I had the opportunity to meet with industry partners at the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) and ORBiT. Two of the association’s main pillars – advocacy and broker technology – were discussed.

The first was a roundtable presentation by David Marshall, former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). David’s appointment as advisor on auto insurance and pensions was announced in the Government’s Fall Statement. His role is to identify ways to improve health outcomes and lower insurer claims costs, ultimately making auto insurance more affordable for Ontarians. The meeting was graciously hosted by IBC and included many insurance companies, legal and regulatory representatives from our industry, along with several members of IBC.

David was very eloquent and direct on the changes needed to satisfy the objective of fair benefits delivered effectively. We are very supportive of proposed changes as communicated at a high level – they are designed to benefit consumers with the objective of making the auto insurance product more affordable. It should be noted that David’s final recommendations need to be formalized in an official report and presented to the Provincial Government. Time will tell whether his recommendations are adopted. In the meantime, we will continue the dialogue and further engage with both David and the IBC on auto reform.

The second initiative was ORBiT’s Annual Meeting where I was asked to speak. I outlined IBAO’s two immediate priorities: political advocacy (continuing our work on the FSCO Mandate Review and auto reform) and the evolution of technology in the industry. I explained to brokers and industry vendors our objective to articulate a technology strategy, a stake in the ground, for brokers and industry vendors to support. Our goal over the coming months is to lead the shaping of our technology evolution by becoming the catalyst for key stakeholders to come together and agree on a way forward that will improve broker competitiveness and ensure the perpetuation of the broker distribution channel. Given the move of most insurance companies to two main technology platforms (GuideWire/Duck Creek), leading this discussion is critical in getting the broker’s voice up front and central. Work in both areas has been ongoing for several months and working committees will be set up early 2017 to ensure we have our brightest, most capable minds engaged on leading the charge. Stay tuned for more on this subject over the next few weeks as we continue to be as proactive as we can.

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