Tech

Belron Canada announces acquisition of vehicle damage repair company Speedy Collision

Belron Canada has announced the acquisition of Speedy Collision, a network of 24 franchise collision centres located across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. Like other retail businesses, the automotive aftermarket service industry is changing as customers are more and more influenced by improvements in other industries, Belron Canada said in a press release late last year, […]

By Canadian Underwriter | January 3, 2017

2 min read

Tech

Homeward Bound

A recent survey of first-time homeowners indicates widespread frustration with insurers, including too many underwriting questions, lack of information in plain English and an inability to complete insurance transactions online.

January 2, 2017

6 min read

Tech

Uber pulls self-driving cars from California roads

SAN FRANCISCO – Uber pulled its self-driving cars from California roads after state regulators moved to revoke their registrations, officials said Wednesday. The move comes after a week of talks between the ride-hailing company and state regulators failed. Hours after Uber launched the service in its hometown of San Francisco last Wednesday, the Department of […]

By Jason Contant | December 22, 2016

4 min read

Tech

Telematics subscribers using embedded systems to reach 170 million worldwide by 2021, from 26.5 million at the end of 2015: report

The number of telematics service subscribers using embedded systems will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36.4% from 26.5 million subscribers at the end of 2015 to 170.2 million subscribers at the end of 2021, according to Swedish market research firm Berg Insight. Gothenburg, Sweden-based Berg Insight – a machine-to-machine (M2M)/Internet of […]

By Canadian Underwriter | December 21, 2016

2 min read

BlackBerry creates autonomous vehicle innovation centre in Ottawa

BlackBerry has announced the creation of the BlackBerry QNX Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Centre (AVIC). John Chen, executive chairman and CEO of BlackBerry Limited and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled AVIC on Monday. Housed within the BlackBerry QNX facility in Ottawa, the centre will “accelerate the realization of connected and self-driving vehicles by developing production-ready […]

3 min read

B.C. directs ICBC to conduct review of insurance rates, approve Basic rate increase of no more than 4.9%

The province of British Columbia has directed the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia’s (ICBC) board to commission a comprehensive, independent third-party review to look at a range of options and make recommendations that will “keep insurance rates affordable and align future rate increases with inflation.” In the interim, and for the coming year’s rate increase, […]

2 min read

U.S. personal auto industry showing signs of weakening underwriting and operating ratios: A.M. Best

The personal automobile insurance industry in the United States is exhibiting signs of weakening underwriting and operating results, mainly driven by rising loss ratios, according to a new A.M. Best special report. A.M. Best reached this conclusion in its report, released on Monday, despite the fact that the U.S. personal auto insurance industry experienced net […]

2 min read

U.S. private cyber insurance market capable of managing most risks: study

The private cyber insurance market in the United States is capable of managing most risks, according to a new policy study from Washington, D.C.-based think tank R Street Institute. Released on Thursday, the study from R Street senior fellow Ian Adams found that the market is growing at a rate of 26% to 50% per […]

2 min read

50% of citizens in large cities will share personal data with smart city programs by 2019: Gartner

Half of citizens in million-people cities will benefit from smart city programs by voluntarily sharing their personal data by 2019, according to new research from Gartner Inc., an information technology research and advisory company based in Stamford, Conn. Gartner noted in a press release on Thursday that the rapid pace of technological and societal change […]

3 min read

Blockchain for enterprise applications market to reach US$19.9 billion by 2025: report

The blockchain for enterprise applications market will reach US$19.9 billion by 2025, according to market intelligence firm Tractica. The Blockchain for Enterprise Applications report, released on Wednesday, said that annual revenue for enterprise applications of blockchain will increase from US$2.5 billion worldwide in 2016 to US$19.9 billion by 2025, representing a compound annual growth rate […]

2 min read