BankRate.ca: Student accident insurance

Insurance offer round the clock coverage
This type of insurance not only covers accidents that happen at school, but anytime anywhere, even during summer holiday. Coverage is 24/7.

"It's a fairly niche product and there are not a lot of companies that offer it in Canada," says Lorne S. Marr, founder of LSM Insurance in Markham, Ont. "It tends to be sold through direct marketing and there is not a lot of broker networking involved."

Most programs in Canada are underwritten by Vancouver-based Industrial Alliance Pacific (IAP) and Hamilton, Ont.-based Reliable Life Insurance.

Reliable Life Insurance operates the parent-friendly website, InsureMyKids.com, where families can choose from a variety of plans -- Bronze, Gold, Silver and Platinum. The IAP Kids Plus program includes the Active Plan, as well as the cost-conscious Value Plan.

(BankRate.ca: Student accident insurance continued...)

Globe and Mail: Relaxed summer policies

Welcome to the summer, workers of the world - July is officially in the house. Sundresses and cargo shorts have elbowed out business suits and ties. Desk lunches have been ditched for sunny patios. And half the office leaves at the stroke of noon every Friday.

You could call it the Great Summer Slide, thanks to both official summer policies - almost half of Canadian companies offer their employees flexible summer hours, according to a May AON Consulting survey of 477 companies - and unofficial slackdom.

(Globe and Mail: Relaxed summer policies continued...)

LSM Insurance Ready to Serve Canada’s Chinese Speakers

Meet William Shung,
the newest member of
the LSM Insurance team.

The number of people who claim a Chinese dialect as their mother tongue has been on the rise since 2001. As of the 2006 census, 1,034,000 people claim it as their first language, which is up 18% since 2001. Chinese is also the number one language spoken among visible minorities in Toronto, as 420,000 people report it as their first language.

Recognizing this upswing, LSM Insurance has diversified our talent pool with the addition of William Shung.

Able to serve your insurance needs in both English and Chinese, William was born in  Johannesburg, South Africa. As former life insurance and long-term care advisor for the Knights of Columbus – the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization – he is well versed in the changing needs of Canada's aging population. He holds both an Elder Planning Counselor and a Fraternal Insurance Counselor designation and is able to advise on a variety of insurance plans including life, long-term care, critical illness and disability.

Insurance Journal: Group critical illness insurance sales improving

The most recent data available shows that the growth of group critical illness sales was seven times stronger than the group insurance sector as a whole. These findings were published by the Fraser Group, an organization that has compiled statistics on the group insurance market in Canada for several years.

Ken Fraser, president of Fraser Group, says that the product is currently enjoying increasing momentum. "Our limited research indicates the rate of new sales is quite strong, around 10%, at least up to 2008. The total market shows net sales after cancellations of l.5%," he reports.

The Wall Street Journal: Nothing Morbid About Child Life Policy

Child life policy.
Credit: Eric McGregor

For most people, a life insurance policy is a way to protect assets or maintain a lifestyle for dependents when the main breadwinner passes away. This makes such policies for children seem unnecessary and even morbid.

But insurance broker Lorne Marr argues juvenile policies can be a financial "gift" for parents to bestow upon their children, ensuring lifelong coverage at a relatively low price. A Term 20 policy begun when a child is two, for example, will be fully paid by the time the child leaves university, can be upgraded at specific milestones, and means the child is covered even if he or she later develops a serious medical condition.