Insurance News - Friday, June 21, 2013

Here are the leading auto insurance headlines from ONTARIO AUTO INSURANCE TOPICS ON TWITTER for Friday, June 21, 2013:

• A spike in personal injury claims in Alberta has sparked applications for a 13.5% hike in auto insurance rates and renewed calls for reforms to plug 'loopholes.'
• A FSCO arbitrator has determined the now obsolete stoppage of weekly benefits form (OCF-17) to be invalid.  This continues a tread of FSCO arbitrators invalidating Superintendent approved forms.
• The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has released a study on cognitive distractions in the car indicating voice-to-text e-mail is as significant distraction as cell phone use.
• Affiliated Brokers Exchange Ltd. has teamed up with Insurance Technology Solutions Inc. to offer a new policy administration system that allows for paperless policy issuance, among other capabilities.
• NAIC reports that more than 40% of teen auto deaths occur between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. and for teens the relative risk of fatal crash increases as the number of passengers increases.
• There is a month left to comment on a CCIR paper dealing with e-commerce in insurance products.
• The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America has produced a map of states (25) that allow electronic proof of insurance using a smartphone or tablet.