The bulletin published by InsuranceINTEL, Insurance Portal’s sister company, presents insurers’ detailed warnings about the use of email to transmit personal data.

BMO Insurance

BMO Insurance has introduced temporary measures for transactions in BMO GIF segregated funds and single premium immediate annuities. They aim to facilitate: 

  • remote signatures; 

  • electronic transmission of documents; 

  • remote identity verification.

The insurer accepts the following platforms:

  • OneSpan (formerly eSignLive)

  • DocuSign

  • iGeny Pro

  • Adobe

Numerous alternative methods are available. Customers can sign and scan a document, photograph it (entire or only the signature page, for long documents), or photograph a signature on a blank page that includes certification by BMO, the policy or form number, and customers’ email address. In all cases, the advisor must transmit the document to the insurer by secure email, namely between partners approved under the Transport Layer Security (TLS) standard

BMO Insurance still requires original documents with handwritten signatures for changes of beneficiaries or of policy owners (assignment).

The insurer also allows remote delivery of individual life and critical illness insurance contracts. Advisors can send clients an email with a link that will let them access the insurance contract and related documents via Microsoft OneDrive. This message does not contain the insured’s confidential medical disclosures.

Canada Life

Canada Life spokesperson Diane Grégoire told Insurance Portal in an earlier interview that the insurer has taken measures to validate clients’ identity, and to ensure physical and electronic protection in order to minimize the risk of unauthorized or accidental disclosure of information.

The insurer has also adopted measures to protect the information it holds. “We are trying to prevent the inappropriate use of personal information and to mitigate all types of problems that may arise due to inappropriate use,” Grégoire says.

IA Financial Group

IA Financial Group has asked advisors to secure documents or messages they send by email that contain information that could identify a person directly or indirectly (personally identifiable information, or PII). They must secure documents with a password at least eight characters long, that does not contain any PII. It must include at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter and an alphanumeric character, namely a number or symbol. It must be transmitted verbally by telephone or videoconference, or via a question to which only the advisor and the client know the answer.

The insurer gave the examples below of PII:

  • Name

  • Street or electronic address

  • Telephone number

  • Contract or transaction number

  • Medical history

Ivari

ivari clients can submit documents easily and safely via a secure page on the website, for processing by the insurer, and add details if necessary.