The Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR) is asking insurers to complete a survey to provide more information about how travel insurance is sold in Canada.

In a letter to both general and life insurance company CEOs dated July 14, CCIR chairman Patrick Déry notes that the regulators established their working group on travel insurance "to research and address concerns expressed by the public and by the brokerage community that confidence in travel insurance is eroding."

The first phase of this working group's review is to obtain information that will give it a better understanding of the Canadian travel insurance market. As a result, insurance companies are being asked to complete a survey to provide a detailed picture of their activities in this area.

The survey includes, among other things, sections for insurers to list all of their products, describe their distribution methods, and disclose the commissions or fees they paid over the course of 2014. Insurers have also been asked to provide information about the number of policies they sold, the number and amount of claims they both received and paid, as well as data concerning the travel insurance policies they voided last year. Insurers are supposed to complete the survey and submit their responses to the CCIR by September 14.

"The regulators appreciate that the responses requested may contain confidential information related to trade secrets as well as commercial, technical, or financial information and the regulators will treat it as such, recognizing that confidentiality and access to information are governed by the relevant legislation in each jurisdiction," concludes Déry in his letter to insurers.