Insurance News - Thursday April 17, 2014

Here are the leading auto insurance headlines from ONTARIO AUTO INSURANCE TOPICS ON TWITTER for Thursday April 17, 2014:

• FSCO reports that first quarter 2014 rate filings decreased by an average of 5.01% for the 14 rate filings (20.22% of the market) it approved.  This works out to a decrease of 1.01% for the entire Ontario market. According to my calculations, rate approvals have declined 5.57% since Rate Reduction Strategy was announced in August.
• Despite a few inaccuracies, an interesting Globe and Mail article about Ontario's dysfunctional auto insurance system.  The only thing all stakeholders agree on is the system is still broken.
• The province's branding program not working because according to this news report, wrecked vehicles being resold to unsuspecting consumers.
• Here is something to be concerned, 8 out of 10 drivers incorrectly believe hands-free cellphones are safer than hand-held use.
• Insurance industry critics in the U.S. are not happy with the practice of using data mining (referred to as price optimization) to set auto insurance rates.