What is it?
Profit sharing is when your Insurance Company returns a percentage of your premium to you for having no (or low) claims. It’s similar to receiving a reward for being good!

How does it work?

After your policy expires, your broker will request updated loss experience from your insurance company (usually processed in 90-120 days after expiry). They will determine how much premium you paid over the year and then calculate the ratio of losses they have paid to premiums you have paid to see if you qualify. If your “loss ratio” falls within the allowed percentage range, your broker will request the profit sharing endorsement from the Insurance Company. Once the company provides the endorsement to your broker, they will have a cheque issued to your company.

What kind of return do you get?

With the companies who offer to insure fleets of trucks, this can vary. The standard is usually 10% return for loss ratios less than 20% and 5% return for loss ratios between 20 – 30%.
For the Owner / Operator program, if there haven’t been any claims payouts over the policy term a 5% return is paid. If there has been, but it is less than 25% of the premium paid, a return of 2.5% is paid.

Does everyone offer it?

No, there are very few Insurance companies which offer this. There is currently only one company who offers profit sharing to Owner / Operators. For Fleets, there are two, both of whom Hallmark represents.

What’s the catch?

Basically there are three general stipulations to receiving profit sharing;

1)    You must renew your policy with that company for the next term.
2)    The policy must be in force at the time the endorsement is processed.
3)    Finally, all claims must be closed in order for them to process it.

If all claims are not closed, the Insurance company will re-visit the profit sharing when they are, but not until then.

Just a note – Profit sharing is usually (not always) only offered on the premium paid for the first $2,000,000 in Liability limits. If your limits are higher than that, the calculation is done on the premium for the first $2,000,000 limits. Also, it is not always offered on all coverages.

Norma Gray, R.I.B. (Ont)
Trucking Specialist
"The Transit Authority"

On May 11, 2001 the Hallmark Insurance Group (Including Navigators Insurance Brokers Ltd.) Took part in the Heart and Stroke Foundations Big Bike Event. 16 of our bravest staff, donned their work out related or casual clothing to take part in a great event.

Overall our team raised $3,000.00 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation Charity. We are proud to have been given the opportunity to participate. Thank you to our great team members for all their hard work!

Insurance claims related to water damage are the fastest growing category of all claims in Canada. 

Severe water damage claims due to severe and repeated weather systems have already prompted a double-digit increase in home insurance premiums for Ontario residents over the past year and this trend is also affecting the commercial rates and risk tolerance as well.

As a golf club manager and/or operator, your specific concern per exposure would have  focused on your specific geographic location and whether your golf course is situated on a flood plain or close to a body of water- whether man-made or natural. For many the exposure and ramifications of water damage seemed to be of little consequence if your course has limited or no proximity to water

however this too is changing with unpredictable and severe rain storms that have been occurring almost too frequently in Ontario.

It is not just the storms or increased downspurts of rain that are causing the damage. Aging infrastructure from the municipality to surface water pounding over time against basements is becoming more of a problem.

What are the chief culprits of water damage:  heavy rainfalls causing sewers to back-up and rivers and lakes to overflow,  poor foundation drainage, tree roots breaking or blocking sewage pipes, overflowing sink or toilet, cracks in basement foundation, burst pipes or water heaters, leaks through an old or poorly maintained roof, wind damage to buildings and ice damning on roofs.

If the insurance industry continues to see higher incidents of water claims you may see the insurance companies continue to increase  premiums for water coverage or remove coverages such as sewage back.

My advice is not for you to be a meteorologist as you can’t predict mother nature but you can ensure that your facilities and buildings are well maintained in order to avoid major damage should a storm or sewage back-up occur in the future.

It is a good practice to regularly have your greens staff  inspect your golf course grounds and ensure that you have safeguards in place including  river bank refurbishment, bridge armouring, proper run-off for the greens , etc in place.

Proper prevention and maintenance always goes a long way in preventing major damage.

    Jonny Appleton
    Golf & Country Club Insurance Specialist

Knowledge is Power – Sir Francis Bacon

What value does an insurance blog hold, why is it valuable to its reader? The simple answer is information. Important information that can increase your profits, grow your business and assist in avoiding costly errors.

Expect to see blogs written by myself (John Walters), many of our knowledgeable staff and brokers regarding their varying areas of expertise including but not limited to the trucking industry, golf and country clubs, aviation, mining, as well as employee benefits, disability insurance and key person coverages. We will also feature discussions concerning news and topics that may affect your business.

Hallmarks’ history spans three generations of insurance professionals. The founding broker of the firm, my grandfather Bert Walters, began a small practice in northern Toronto in 1948. My father Doug Walters succeeded as President in 1969 and I became president in 1991.

Today we have more than 50 staff, and we provide a wide range of services to more than 11,000 people and companies. Hallmark is firmly rooted in Toronto, providing comprehensive service to Canadian corporations who are active domestically and internationally.

We intend on sharing information with (You) our readers, in hopes of opening the door discussion, dispelling myths about insurance, educating and bringing transparency to a complex industry.

We encourage you to post thoughts and ask questions in the comments section below every post, and share the information you find valuable via email, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

John Walters
President
Hallmark Insurance Group