Mike Brockman, CEO, ThingCo
If you have the unbridled joy of parenting a teenager you’ll probably know what telematics insurance is. In very simple terms, telematics or ‘black box’ insurance enables insurance companies to track driving behaviour using technology fitted to the car or via a smartphone app. It is the first practical example of IoT – machine to machine communication of real-time data.
Telematics has been crucial to helping thousands of young people get experience on the road who would otherwise have found the cost of insurance too high. When you look at the number of road casualties in the UK over the last nine years there is a clear correlation between the rising adoption of telematics and a fall in young driver casualties[i]. The problem is that as soon as they can, young drivers chuck in telematics and take traditional insurance. As such telematics insurance has got stuck firmly in a rut.
So why is that a problem?
First, telematics saves lives – think what it could do if more drivers had it.
Secondly motor insurance costs are linked to claims costs – if we can bring down the cost of claims through the engagement, speed of response in accidents and anti-fraud benefits of using telematics data to its full potential, everyone could access cheaper insurance.
Thirdly we are living in a world deeply impacted by COVID-19. Travel trends were already altering prior to the pandemic but have changed and could remain significantly changed for the foreseeable future. Consumers are beginning to think more deeply now about their motor insurance and value for money. This may create demand for motor insurance cover that is more responsive to people’s individual driving behaviours – why pay an annual premium when you only use the car once or twice a week? On the flipside, those nervous of using public transport could see an increase in their car use. Telematics allows insurance providers to offer insurance based on actual rather than predicted use.
The fundamental reason for telematics getting stuck in a rut is insurance companies are not offering something consumers actually want and they are not deriving value from their investment in the technology. Different telematics devices give different qualities of data and that data determines the economic equation they have to resolve in terms of how much they pay for the technology and what value they get from it.
Another key factor is that if you give something away – as the insurance industry has done with telematics ‘black boxes’ – you are sending a strong signal to the customer that the technology is of no value to them and only there to serve the insurer’s need.
You need to make the device a desirable piece of technology that consumers would value in their own right – rather than something that is imposed on them to get cheaper insurance. By introducing new technologies into these devices such as Voice, camera, ADAS, black spot warnings, it becomes a truly connected device that not only helps the driver but also creates incredible amounts of data that’s useful to the insurer to manage risk and provide better customer services.
With next generation telematics, the data is no longer a one way street direct into the insurer. You can feed that data back to the customer and develop additional services such as a voice alert when they have been driving for too long without a break, an incentive of a coffee at the next rest-stop.
Telematics also transforms the claims process for the customer and the insurance provider. A crash alert can kick in and activate a voice command in the device and that will ask the driver if they had an accident, whether they need help and will alert emergency services if necessary.
This is where the data brings huge value to the insurance provider providing a whole range of detail – like a liability assessment, video footage, fault, g-force etc. This data is dynamite to First Notification of Loss team with an insurance provider.
But the biggest difference next generation telematics offers is it really strengthens the relationship with customers and insurers can make it fun as well. Insurance and fun aren’t usually two words you see in the same sentence but unlike traditional insurance, or old school telematics, it allows engagement and the opportunity to provide incentives without any big brother feeling about it.
Technology has changed massively over the last ten years, the quality of devices has developed and the Cloud has opened the potential for telematics products to be designed for customers in the most attractive way. Barriers around trust and big brother can be broken down by being absolutely clear that the data belongs to the driver – they can choose how it is used to their benefit, spelling out the advantages, being transparent and flexible.
COVID-19 is providing an opportunity to stand back and think about telematics differently – how to make it customer friendly and how to make the economics work. By leveraging next generation telematics technology the insurance market has a window of opportunity to turn the motor insurance grudge purchase into something consumers really start to value.
[i] https://blogs.lexisnexis.com/insurance-insights/2019/04/the-road-to-safer-driving-infographic-how-telematics-can-be-directly-linked-to-reducing-casualties/
