Zurich Canada to offer travel insurance by 2019

Zurich Canada has signaled that it will enter the travel insurance market in Canada with the appointment of John Thain as vice-president - travel, accident & sickness.

A 25-year veteran of the travel insurance industry, Thain will be responsible for launching personal leisure travel, business travel accident and supporting accident and sickness products in Canada. He is based in Toronto and reports to Greg Irvine, head of Zurich’s specialty products for Canada.

Zurich Canada said that it expects to begin selling personal travel products by the start of 2019.

Before joining Zurich, Thain held numerous roles as an independent consultant, underwriter and program administrator. At Assurant Canada, he was responsible for the strategic direction of a portfolio of inclusive credit card and related voluntary insurance products in Canada. He is also a past president of the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada.

“We are very excited that John has joined Zurich Canada to help us launch an accident and sickness underwriting practice, including personal travel insurance,” said David Levinson, CEO of Zurich Canada. “With John's experience and deep knowledge of the market, he is well equipped to lead Zurich's travel insurance business while we continue to strengthen our customer and broker relationships across the country.”