After a slow start, the telematics market has been hotting up as drivers seek ways to combat steep rises in their car insurance. We present the key players in the market today
Telematics-based motor insurance in the UK has seen a boom over the past year, and there are now several propositions on the market.
Here, Insurance Times draws together a summary of the companies and the propositions on offer.
Direct Line: open to anyone
Direct Line launched a telematics pilot project with RBS sister company and telematics provider Tracker in November last year.
The year-long pilot aims to sign up thousands of drivers and will be open to anyone, but the insurer expects a high percentage of young drivers to sign up.
Direct Line is looking to launch a consumer telematics offering by using the information from the pilot.
The AA: leveraging driving school customer base
The AA will launch a telematics scheme in February that will be underwritten by Groupama, Markerstudy and Sabre. The scheme will be launched on the aggregator Confused, and the telematics ‘black boxes’ will be provided by Wunelli.
The total cost of the device to the AA over three years will be around £250 to £300. The insurer will look to sell the product to pupils in its driving schools.
Ingenie: teaming up with Ageas and Lineker
Ingenie is the newest entrant to the telematics market and provides telematics boxes underwritten by Ageas. The scheme went live last November.
Ingenie and Ageas are targeting the 17- to 25-year-old age bracket. Careful drivers will get reduced premiums and the chance of winning rewards from Orange and AT&T Williams Formula One.
Former Direct Line director Chris McKee and Innovation Group co-founder Richard King head the executive team.
Ex-England star Gary Lineker is an investor in Ingenie, as is former RSA Insurance managing director Steve Broughton.
Young Marmalade: car purchase scheme
Young Marmalade’s proposition is to sell cars already fitted with telematics technology to young drivers.
The telematics ‘black boxes’ in the cars feed back information to the drivers. If the driver does not drive well, their premiums will be hiked by up to £500, and their policy could be cancelled.
The policies are underwritten by Provident Insurance.
Coverbox: all about the data
Coverbox sell and manage telematics boxes that are underwritten by Groupama, Equity Red Star, The Co-Operative Insurance, Sabre Insurance, Markerstudy and Allianz.
The boxes collect data on the location of the car and how the driver uses it. Coverbox also lets drivers check feedback on their driving through a website.
Coverbox is an appointed representative of BDML Connect, which in turn is owned by Capita.
Insurethebox: telematics-only approach
Insurethebox is an MGA with capacity from Catlin that only sells telematics-based motor policies.
Policyholders are charged a fee according to vehicle mileage and pay for 6,000 miles of driving initially, before paying to top up this amount. Drivers can earn extra miles for careful driving.
The Co-operative Insurance: rebate incentives
Co-operative Insurance launched a telematics product, Young Drivers, in March last year. The product is aimed at drivers between 17 and 25 years old. The box is installed and managed by Wunelli.
The insurer claims that young drivers could get a premium discount of up to £300 a year for driving sensibly with their telematics box fitted.
It says that nearly nine out of 10 of its customers who have taken out the product have received a rebate after data collected by the telematics black boxes showed that they had been driving safely.
Young drivers have most to gain
Many UK telematics schemes concentrate on insuring young drivers between 17 and 25 years old, as this age bracket pays the highest premiums and so has the most to gain from any initiative offering premium reductions for safe driving.
The projects involve fitting a telematics box into the policyholder’s car, which then monitors driving behaviour, such as speed, cornering, acceleration and braking. Most boxes also monitor the location of the car.
Using this information, insurers can judge a driver’s risk much more accurately and adjust premiums to match driving behaviour.
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