Insurance News - Saturday, January 18, 2014

Here are the leading auto insurance headlines from ONTARIO AUTO INSURANCE TOPICS ON TWITTER for Saturday, January 18, 2014:

• Acquisitions in the Canadian insurance market continue with Desjardins Group set to acquire State Farm Canada businesses.  How much has Ontario auto contributed to State Farm's exit from Canada.  Will other foreign-based insurers follow?
• FSCO reports auto insurance rate approvals declined by 3.98% for entire market in the 4th quarter of 2013 4.75% for all of 2013. The rate change covers 66.55% of Ontario auto insurance market.
• The Ontario Divisional Court has denied a judicial review application in Federico v. State Farm. The case involved a dispute over the interest rate charged for late payments under the transitional provisions on the SABS (34/10).
• CANATICS has now chosen an analytics service provider to help expose hidden patterns of fraudulent behaviour.
• Ford, State Farm and University of Michigan are teaming up to unveil automated Fusion Hybrid research and test car to be used to make progress on future automated driving and other advanced technologies.
• The New York Department of Financial Services is inviting usage-based auto insurance filings. The state sees telematics as a means to combat distracted driving.