Western National Mutual Insurance has finalized their purchase of Dynamic Insurance Group, the parent company of Illinois based American Freedom Insurance. American Freedom will continue to operate as a separate entity, offering non-standard auto insurance in Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. The current management team at American Freedom will remain intact, operating under the ultimate management and full financial support of Western National.

Yesterday Progressive filed patent infringement lawsuits against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance and Hartford Financial Services, alleging the rival insurers were infringing on three patents related to monitoring vehicle usage and utilizing that data to help determine insurance rates. Business Week reports that both complaints were filed in a Cleveland federal court and “the complaints target Hartford’s ‘TrueLane’ and State Farm’s ‘Drive Safe & Save’ initiatives.”

It's a Progressive kind of day today! First we covered Progressive's tie-in with ESPN to create a 'Streak for the Cash' fantasy sports game, and now we're bringing you a new ad from the insurance company as our Insurance Ad of the Week. In the new spot, Flo works alongside different employees of various professions to promote Progressive's commercial auto insurance coverage options. 

According to a recent study from a vehicle hire firm in the U.K., drivers of company cars are almost twice as likely to be caught speeding as people driving their own personally purchased vehicle. On average, one in ten drivers has been caught speeding, but when you look specifically at drivers of company cars the number jumps to approximately one in six.

ESPN has partnered with Progressive to create a fantasy game called 'Streak for the Cash.' The sports site presents a list of various team matchups across different sports, and participants must predict the winner of one of the matchups. If a user builds the longest streak or compiles the most wins, he or she wins. Additionally, if a user beats the Progressive Messenger for monthly wins, he or she can potentially win $1,000.

Auto insurance company Esurance was recently voted one of the best places to work in New Jersey. NJBIZ and the Best Companies Group both recognized the company as a 2012 great place to work in the garden state. 

For the second time in the past six months, Oklahoma’s stormy weather is causing an insurance company to withdraw from the state. GHS Property and Casualty Co. announced they will be exiting the Oklahoma auto insurance market due to, “the staggering effect of multiple natural disasters that left GHS with irreconcilable underwriting losses.”

According to a recent study from USAA, soldiers returning home from deployment are 13 percent more likely to be involved in an at-fault accident. USAA reviewed data from over 150,000 soldiers who’d returned from deployment between 2007 and 2010 and found that although the risk of an accident dropped back to normal within about six months, the initial spike in collisions involving recently returned soldiers was surprisingly high.