Volume 56, Number 4, 1989

FR:

La société d’assurances Eagle Star Insurance Company, que dirige l’auteur, M. Michael A. Butt, a bien voulu accepter notre invitation à publier ici une réflexion sur la place de l’assurance dans l’économie britannique, présentée à l’occasion de la vingt-quatrième réunion annuelle de l’International Insurance Society (I.I.S.). Monsieur Butt explique le rôle de l’assurance dans l’économie, en Grande-Bretagne, et son développement à l’aube de l’ouverture des frontières européennes, en 1992. Dans ce contexte, on voit l’importance et l’actualité de cette réflexion. Nous tenons à signaler aux lecteurs que Monsieur Butt s’est trouvé dans l’impossibilité de livrer son discours et qu’il fut remplacé par M. Graham Lockwood, de la même société d’assurances. Faute d’espace, nous ne pouvons reproduire ici l’allocution de Monsieur Lockwood, qui ne manque pas d’intérêt ni de pertinence.

EN:

With the arrival in Quebec of the Automobile Insurance Act, numerous questions were being asked concerning the Direct Compensation Agreement implemented in 1978. Ten years later, Mr. Claude Lapointe of the Groupement des assureurs automobiles du Québec, has, at our invitation, written an article to mark the anniversary of this agreement. His article looks at the Direct Compensation Agreement as it now stands compared with its initial objectives. Mr. Lapointe's text touches upon some very interesting aspects, such as subrogation and arbitrage, and also certain problems of application, though these are rather rare. The author concludes by stating that the Direct Compensation Agreement has met the needs of the users, that is, quick settlements at low costs and less disputes.

EN:

Risks of loss can either be retained or transferred to an insurer. Voluntary risk retention in the area of life insurance or employee benefits compensation may be total or partial and requires administrative resources for adequate loss coverage. The author, Mr. Luc Plamondon, describes various self-insurance approaches in the field of employee benefits compensation plans. While some of these approaches call upon the voluntary action of the employer who provides the coverage, handling, financing and overall administration of claims, others may involve the insurer at different levels of management as well as different methods of insurance. Following is a summary of a speech given by the author last October to a group of Canadian lawyers.

EN:

The following study by our collaborator Jacques Henripin from the University of Montreal is interesting from several points of view. First he presents the demographic situation in Quebec which, without being alarming, is worrisome. He then examines how to increase the birth rate in Quebec, what role the government and parents should play, can effective policies be adopted, what is the basis of a good family policy. The author concludes we must above all be wary of makeshift solutions.

EN:

At a time when the Quebec insurance industry is undergoing major changes due ta decompartmentalization, the role of the broker takes on more and more importance. The author, himself a broker, explains the very varied roles the insurance broker must play in his day-to-day activities. The lack of examples dealing with case law is volontary on his part; instead he uses actual experiences to make his point. Indeed, the broker renders numerous services to his client, notably helping him analyse the risks he faces, by assisting in choosing from among the coverages available on the market and, more important, by defending his interests at all times.

EN:

Economic growth in most leading industrialized nations is quite strong. The surprising burst of growth we saw in most OECD countries in 1988 led lo a small acceleration in inflation and a round of interest rate increases. However, slower growth is expected over the next 12 months. Inflation will remain modest and interest rates will probably decline.

EN:

What do the expressions "catastrophe risks" and ''jumbo risks" mean? A dictionary will generally define a catastrophe as "a sudden extraordinary event which results in great misfortune or ruin". In his article, the author considers the following types of catastrophe risks: natural, accidental, criminal and severe liability. In the next issue, he will review world catastrophes affecting both insureds and insurers, including reinsurers.