Labour’s Shadow Transport Minister John Woodcock said this week that Labour would force UK insurers to offer telematics to drivers following the EU gender ruling which will put up the price of insurance for women. The EU ruling comes into force in December.
A recent Accenture survey showed strong support among young motorists for using telematics to reduce their motor premiums. The survey of 3,000 customers showed that:
-82% of consumers say they might be convinced to try telematics if it could help them achieve a lower premium
-The majority of respondents (68%) would be willing to have their current insurer monitor their driving if they can obtain better pricing
-More than one-third of respondents (36%) said they would be willing to switch if they knew of an insurer that offered a better price based on monitored driving
-Strongest interest was with the mid age (25-44 yr olds) and mid to upper income brackets, suggesting that this may have a wider appeal than the traditional younger driver target market. Oldest consumers are more inclined to switch (42%).
Wunelli, an expert in telematics data, hardware and software, is urging insurers to agree a common standard for the collection, verification and security of telematics data. An analysis by Labour found that female drivers could be hit with up to £362 in extra premium costs once the gender ban comes into force.
Sandy Dunn, chairman for Wunelli comments “There are good and bad young and inexperienced drivers of both sexes and the good risks should be rewarded by lower premiums, irrespective of gender and based purely on how, where and when they drive their car.
However, the value of telematics data as part of the risk rating process can only be fully realised if the industry agrees a common data standard. That has to happen within the year so that insurers can be on the front foot when the European gender ruling takes effect. Wunelli is in the perfect position to provide a roadmap for this agreement.
We are confident Labour will not need to ‘force’ insurers to offer telematics–the insurance sector already understands the benefits in terms of risk rating, driver safety and fraud. The key is to ensure we don’t find ourselves in a situation with multiple black boxes in cars and no cohesive approach to how telematics data is collected and used.”
Ian Faulkner, md of Metaskil, said “Following the recent endorsement from David Cameron, It’s great to see another political party pushing for the use of telematics in the industry. News that Labour shadow transport minister John Woodcock is wanting to compel providers to offer a telematics option as one of its products is a sensible step towards reducing premiums across the board. We are seeing more and more traction in the drive for telematics from various sources and hopefully this direct approach from Labour will be another push for the industry to fully grasp the technology as a way to offer the public more transparent and accurately reflective insurance policies.
In its statement, Labour has proposed giving a year for insurers to get the telematics technology in place. With this timing coming very close with the implementation of the EU gender ruling, we expect to see more companies voluntarily adopting this new way of calculating premiums fairly.”
Aviva, one of the early trialists with telematics, is considering launching a motor insurance smartphone app that would give motorists a discount based on their driving style.
|
