Just over a year ago, the Risk Based Market Conduct Survey was sent to all licensed insurance companies operating in Alberta. The survey was meant to gather information about insurance companies’ compliance with various sections of the Insurance Act, especially different distribution models used by insurance companies and their risk management control functions with respect to the regulatory requirements under certain sections of the Act.

The results were released on April 28th.

The survey's findings indicate that 45 percent of insurance companies use independent agents or brokers for their method of distribution, 24 percent use restricted or captive company insurance agents and 15 percent use outsourced call centres.

The majority of companies are being proactive in doing their business: 93 percent of insurance companies said they have policies and procedures in place to ensure they only do business with an insurance agent who holds a valid certificate of authority.

On the adjuster side, 55 percent of companies said they have policies and procedures to ensure they only do business with insurance adjusters who hold valid certificates of authority. Thirty-four percent of the companies indicate that the policies and procedures were not applicable to their organization because as a life and health company they do not utilize insurance adjusters. A full 11 percent of the insurance companies indicated they do not have policies and procedure at all.

The Alberta Office of the Superintendent of Insurance has called this survey a success and has said that they hope to use the results as a tool to maximize available resources and focus regulatory efforts.