Australian insurers, brokers and motoring organisations planning to get into the usage-based insurance arena, will now benefit from a new joint venture between UK-based telematics solutions provider Wunelli and insurance software solutions experts SSP.
As part of a wider package of IT solutions to speed insurers’ entry into the telematics market, SSP will be offering Wunelli’s mobile platform and scoring capabilities for the development of smartphone telematics apps.
QBE is already using Insurance Box, the self-installed telematics device transmits data via GPS and mobile networks to assess driver behaviour and can provide accurate information on collisions, theft and overall driving ability. Consistently safe drivers are rewarded with reduced premiums regardless of age, gender or location.
Rather than having to spend time and money adapting existing IT systems, Insurance Box provides Australian insurers with the systems capability to introduce telematics products almost immediately and at lower cost than would otherwise be possible using legacy systems.
Executive general manager for QBE Australia Tim Plant says the product marks a notable step forward for QBE and the industry as it changes the way risk is calculated.
“We are always looking for opportunities to further innovate within the industry and to promote practices and products that have a positive impact on the community and the customer experience,” he says.
SSP head of data services strategy Adrian Coupland says: “The agreement with Wunelli allows us to offer insurers entry into the usage based insurance arena at a fraction of the cost of hard-wired devices.
“The smartphone apps will allow insurers to go out to the mass market and collect vast amounts of data to understand how it can be used effectively for rating purposes and claims.”
Wunelli’s mobile platform can identify the nuances of driving behaviour – or driving DNA – with acceleration, braking, origins and destinations ensuring the driving data fed from smartphone apps is 95% accurate.
If Wunelli’s mobile platform doesn’t recognise the driving style created from the initial ‘DNA’ driver then the trip isn’t used for scoring purposes. Antipodean insurers will not only have the score but a quality marking from Wunelli based on recognised driving behaviour.
These new smartphone app solutions being developed by Wunelli will build on its successful relationship with SSP in the UK and use the benefits of seeing what has worked well over there to improve on capabilities offered in New Zealand and Australia.
Penny Searles, managing director at Wunelli, says: “These markets have the benefit of seeing what has worked well in the UK. We have spent a number of years perfecting the app technology and alongside the advanced operating systems now available, we are able to address issues such as battery drain, and the ability to download a new app if the original phone is lost or stolen.”
Usage-based insurance in Australia has an estimated current potential of at least 7% of the private motor market, according to a report by Morgan Stanley. It says smaller ‘challenger’ brands would look to disrupt a market made up of large and established insurers, which will in turn need to react quickly to maintain profitability by adopting the new technology.
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