IBAO is applauding Liberal MPP Mike Colle's introduction of his private member’s Bill 130: The Homeowners Insurance Credit Scoring Ban Act, 2010 on Thursday, November 4, 2010.
The Bill is asking that the use of credit scoring on personal property insurance be banned. A growing number of insurers are using people’s credit score to measure their insured risk. This has led to an increase in insurance premiums or an absolute denial of insurance to many Ontario citizens.
Just two days prior to the announcement, IBAO broker members visited Queen’s Park to meet with numerous MPP’s to discuss this growing concern. IBAO is thrilled that a member of the Ontario government has stepped forward and introduced this bill. They are pleased that their collective voice was heard and that this action was taken.
Sadly, the current use of credit scoring to measure a person’s insured risk is affecting those who least can afford it. This includes seniors, newcomers to Canada, the unemployed, single income families and small business owners utilizing lines of credit.
Progress was made in 2005, when the Ontario government banned the practice of using credit scoring in auto insurance policies. This was further enforced this year as part of the new auto regulations that came into effect on September 1, 2010.
In 2005, Mr. Colle was Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance and played a huge part in the ban. His actions, both in the past and present, clearly demonstrate his commitment to protecting consumers.
Click Here to Read the Bill on the Ontario Legislative Assembly's website.
Click Here to Support Bill 130 by sending an email to MPP Mike Colle.
IBAO applauds the recent announcement by the Ontario government on new changes coming into effect to protect Ontario’s young drivers, beginning August 1, 2010. The new law states that all young drivers under the age of 21, as well as new motorists, will be required to have a zero blood alcohol level when behind the wheel.
This new legislation was first introduced last year and particularly aims to protect young drivers, which statistics have shown, are most at risk for being involved in drinking and driving related incidents.
Encouraging safe driving has been and continues to be a central focus for IBAO and its members. Especially when you consider that the number one cause of death for people aged 16-24 in Ontario is still alcohol related automobile accidents. IBAO’s CEO Randy Carroll commented that the new legislation promises to diminish the number of fatalities in province significantly.
IBAO has been in proud partnership with the Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving (OSAID) for more than a decade. Together, they are committed to teaching Ontario students about the dangers of driving while under the influence.
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation highlighted some of the following consequences associated with the new legislation.
All drivers 21 years of age and younger must have a zero blood alcohol level when they get behind the wheel or face:
• An immediate 24-hour licence suspension
• 30-day licence suspension
• Up to $500 in fines
You are encouraged to visit the Ministry’s official website, Ontario Ministry of Transportation for more information.
Students especially are encouraged to visit OSAID’s new interactive website, www.OSAID.org for more information on this youth driven organization.
IBAO also recently created a video to highlight other changes to drinking and driving laws in Ontario that affect all drivers.
Watch it here: Drinking and Driving Laws Are Tougher - Be Prepared
While no one is immune from cheque fraud, companies that maintain large cash balances and process a large volume of cheques, such as those in the insurance industry, are popular targets of fraudsters. Fraudsters seem to be well in tune with our industry and perpetrate fraud in a number of ways, including stealing blank cheques, or intercepting written cheques in transit and altering the amount or payee, or outright counterfeiting cheques.
In order to protect your brokerage, internal controls must form the first line of defense. Here are a few tips:
- Implement physical security by properly securing and restricting access to any computers used to issue cheques, especially ones with electronic signatures.
- Cheques, cheque order forms, and articles of incorporation should be treated as carefully as cash and kept locked up with restricted access.
- Ensure that cheques have serial numbers on the electronic codeline (commonly referred to as MICR). Most banks’ detection equipment relies on the MICR as part of their fraud detection systems.
- Reconcile accounts on a daily basis (confirming both correct amounts and payees) and separating accounts payable from accounts receivable roles can help minimize opportunities for fraudulent activity.
A secondary line of defense revolves around various industry products such as modern cheque printers with security features like watermarks. Also, there are a number of banking products and services such as positive pay, electronic reconciliation, and electronic payments direct to the payee can help mitigate the risk of cheque fraud.
If you believe that some fraudulent activity is at work, contact your banker immediately.
For more information, on how to minimize your brokerage’s fraud risk, visit the fraud section of the BMO website, or read the article on cheque fraud in the June issue of The Ontario Broker.
On March 4, 2010 the CRTC sent out a “Call for Comments” as it relates to the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules for financial and insurance products and services offered to existing clients.
In the financial bulletin, the Commission concluded that, "taking into account the nature of the service of providing financial advice and the expectations of clients, telecommunications by an investment or financial advisor to an existing client regarding financial products or services do not constitute telemarketing under the Rules; therefore, the Rules do not apply to such calls".
In contrast, in the insurance bulletin, the Commission concluded that, "telecommunications by insurance agents or brokers to sell or promote insurance products or services, including telecommunications to existing clients, constitute telemarketing under the Rules".
The CRTC Call for Comments bulletin can viewed in full by visiting their website - CRTC.
As you can well imagine, IBAO is very much opposed to these rules and has made a submission on behalf of our members stating our position. We will make sure that we keep you, the members of IBAO informed as to our progress. Moving forward, we may send out a ‘Call to Action’ to you, asking for your assistance if we feel it is necessary to do so.
In the meantime, Click Here to review a summary of IBAO’s submission to the CRTC on April 7.
On March 24, Canadian Underwriter Magazine wrote an article titled “Feds propose to slap GST tax on currently exempt insurance-related services”, causing a bit of concern and confusion among brokers. Given the number of inquiries IBAO has fielded from brokers and members of the industry press, it is quite clear that this is an issue that has garnered the attention of Brokers across Ontario.
The concerns raised are contrary to opinions we’ve received from our independent experts on our research regarding the HST. At this time, IBAO does not believe that brokers’ commissions will be taxable under the GST. That being said, we are seriously reviewing this and have already engaged our independent tax experts at BDO Dunwoody for their opinion.
What seems to have led to the debate was CRA’s GST/HST Notice 250 released in February and Price Waterhouse Coopers Paper released earlier this month.
On Friday, we noted that the Ministry of Finance has already posted a notice on their website that the CRA is reviewing and updating the technical guidance it has provided in notice 250 and invited stakeholder commentary. In the release posted on the Federal Minister of Finance’s website, Minister Flaherty said, “The proposed changes contained in the Notice of Ways and Means Motion tabled in the House of Commons on March 22, 2010 are designed to confirm our long-standing policy intent and restore the situation that existed prior to the court decisions. We are not imposing new taxes.”
IBAO will be working closely with our tax experts, IBAC and other stakeholders, and if required, actively participate in the proposed consultation process to ensure clarity on the issue for Brokers in Ontario.
Most employers in Ontario, including IBAO member offices will fall under the requirements of the new Bill 168, the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act (Violence and Harassment in the Workplace) 2009. This comes into force on June 15, 2010, and there are several requirements of Ontario employers in order to ensure compliance with this new law.
- Develop, implement, communicate and maintain policies on workplace violence and harassment.
- Develop reporting and investigation procedures for incidents of alleged workplace violence and harassment.
- Assess and advise employees on the risk of workplace violence.
- Train employees and managers on their rights and obligations regarding workplace violence and harassment.
IBAO is dedicated to providing our members with resources to improve business operations, and more importantly to ensure compliance in the workplace legislation. As such, we have reached out to our HR partners solutions provider, ENGAGE Human Resources Solutions Inc. for their support. ENGAGE will provide IBAO Member offices with tools and resources to help ensure your office is protected in accordance with Bill 168. Here is what you can expect from IBAO and ENGAGE over the coming weeks:
APRIL
New Policy Templates – on workplace violence and harassment, including reporting and investigation procedures for all cases of workplace violence and harassment. These new templates can be added to your existing policy package that IBAO provided to members via CD last year.
A How-to Guide – and tool for conducting a workplace violence risk assessment.
MAY
A Communication Guide – for informing employees and managers of their rights and obligations under Bill 168.
BEYOND
A Practical Training Program on preventing workplace violence and harassment will be made available to all Member Offices later this year.
Workplace Investigations – ENGAGE Human Resources Solutions Inc. is ready and willing to conduct 3rd party workplace investigations services to all IBAO Member Offices on a fee for service basis. More details will be provided in the coming weeks on this service offering.
You can also view Bill168 in its entirety.
For more information, please contact the ENGAGE Advantage Helpdesk at
905-306-8111 x 240 or 1-877-EHRS-411 x 240.