Insurance Bureau of Canada – Everything you need to know
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Headquarters Address
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777 Bay Street, Suite 2400 P.O. Box 121 Toronto, ON M5G 2C8
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GWP
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$59.6 billion (Total premium base)
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Size (employees)
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128,000+
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Global Locations
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7 offices across Canada
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Underwriting Expertise
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n/a
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Key People
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President and CEO: Don Forgeron
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About Insurance Bureau of Canada
Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is a national industry association that represents private home, auto, and business insurers. Its member companies make up 90% of the Canadian property and casualty insurance marketplace.
A significant part of IBC’s work is its focus on increasing the public’s understanding of insurance, which is fostered through IBC’s five regional consumer centres that answer thousands of inquiries from consumers every year, in addition to a variety of other channels promoting education among the public, as well as the insurance industry more broadly. These range from online resources about different types of coverages to various conferences and events, studies on the risks and costs of natural catastrophes, reports on insurance reform, and other advocacy and education work involving key stakeholders.
IBC member companies, which consist of both private insurers and reinsurers, can subscribe to three IBC services, including Issues Management (policy development, communications and legal services, and services delivered by regional offices), Investigative Services (such as crime ring investigation, auto theft and loss recovery services, information exchange, as well as communications and legal services as they relate to Investigative Services), and Vehicle Information Suite (access to web-based business applications, the Canadian Loss Experience Automobile Rating system, VINlink products, “How Cars Measure Up” publication, and other information related to automobile insurance).
Brief history of Insurance Bureau of Canada
Insurance Bureau of Canada was founded in 1964. For more than five decades, IBC has worked with governments from coast to coast to help make affordable home, auto and business insurance available to all Canadians.
Leadership at Insurance Bureau of Canada
Don Forgeron has been IBC’s president and CEO since 2009, and has a 25-year-long record of working in the P&C insurance industry. He has contributed to both the public and private sectors through his work for Alberta’s Department of Environment and the National Research Council in Nova Scotia early on in his career.
As the leader of IBC, Forgeron collaborates with governments and stakeholders across Canada to establish a strong and stable P&C industry, in part by leading a national conversation on the necessity of better preparing Canada for major weather events, such as earthquakes and floods. Forgeron has his sights set outside of Canada as well, speaking on behalf of Canada’s P&C insurance industry with international regulatory bodies, seen through his role as a founding member of the Global Federation of Insurance Associations.
Culture at Insurance Bureau of Canada
In June 2019, IBC showed how serious it is about addressing the issue of insurance fraud – particularly auto insurance fraud – though the association added that it needs help from everyone involved.
IBC’s Forgeron was invited to serve as keynote speaker for the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Meeting in the summer of 2019 and in his speech, he underlined that the issue of auto insurance fraud is everyone’s problem, not just the insurers’.
“I know you’ve all got a lot on your plate. You’re being pulled in a lot of different directions – and there are never enough resources for all the tasks at hand. You need to make choices. You need to prioritize what’s in the public interest,” he said. “But I also know this: Fraud is an attack not only on insurance companies, but on you and your people. It’s an attack on consumers and society at large. Many of these criminals seek to waste your time – and your resources.”
Forgeron noted that the IBC has been working with law enforcement on several initiatives to combat fraud – an issue that’s not only limited to Ontario, but the rest of Canada as well. Specific to Ontario, the bureau has partnered with the OPP to launch an education and awareness campaign to enlighten drivers about the dangers of fraud. IBC also has a program that trains law enforcers on the latest trends in vehicle thefts.
IBC has a three-point approach to tackling the national issue of auto insurance fraud, which include the following:
- The insurance industry has to do more in the fight against fraud. Insurance companies have begun to cooperate to identify fraud, which allows the companies to spot fraud trends together that they would normally miss had they been searching for clues alone. To encourage more collaboration, the IBC is establishing a framework to improve the way insurers share information for purposes of fraud detection.
- There needs to be more meaningful penalties against those who commit fraud, such as stronger sentences to serve as a deterrent to fraud, since there are many instances of fraudsters who, despite being found guilty by the law, wind up back in business not too long after.
- Law enforcement can play a greater role in fighting fraud. The insurance industry has been tackling small cases of fraud ever since, but it is systemic fraud (the kind perpetrated by criminals) that the industry will need support from law enforcement to handle. IBC recently joined an investigation into car thefts with the Ottawa Police Central & East Division, codenamed “Project Ravin,” and managed to help recover 19 cars valued at $835,000. These joint investigations send a clear signal to criminals that insurance fraud doesn’t pay.
