[avikamail]

My story is on similar lines to locusjag and even I was super impressed with Progressive's Snapshot. The device makes a beep every time I braked hard. It grew on me so much that I was ever conscious to drive safe. Even after I sent the device back to Progressive, I felt the void left by the 'beep'. Discounts apart, the device was really useful to improve my driving (or braking) habits. It actually told you when you did a mistake and that really helped me drive better. I was hoping they let me keep the device, not for the discounts but for the friendly 'beep' reminder. Fortunately with the Connected Car concepts of Internet of Things catching up with the automotive industry, these features will become regular in future smart cars.

[ShankarG]

Amazing piece of information. Thanks for updating all of us.

Another way to implement such a type Insurance Payments is through real time premium debits. Just like we have our prepaid mobile phones, our insurance premiums are paid in advance. Now in case of a rough or more than normal usage of the car, rash driving, speed limits and other factors,, a higher premium rate can be charged and the Insurance amount gets deducted at a faster rate. Similarly if we are a sedate driver following rules and driving the car appropriately, the lower will be the premium making it to run for more number of days (even above 365).

In my opinion, this will make the driver to drive the car responsibly. At the same time, changing the insurance provider will not be a much of a problem as each one can share their rates and a buyer can compare or switch over to other company when current insurance balance amount becomes zero.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by avikamail

My story is on similar lines to locusjag and even I was super impressed with Progressive's Snapshot. The device makes a beep every time I braked hard. It grew on me so much that I was ever conscious to drive safe. Even after I sent the device back to Progressive, I felt the void left by the 'beep'. Discounts apart, the device was really useful to improve my driving (or braking) habits. It actually told you when you did a mistake and that really helped me drive better. I was hoping they let me keep the device, not for the discounts but for the friendly 'beep' reminder. Fortunately with the Connected Car concepts of Internet of Things catching up with the automotive industry, these features will become regular in future smart cars.

You're right about the warning beeps! I totally forgot about them...

My only doubt is, did the beeps ever make you reluctant to brake. Safe driving by decelerating in advance is the ideal scenario. I was a little bit concerned that a few folks would drive fast as usual and avoid braking subconsciously, leading to dangerous outcomes.

Originally Posted by ShankarG

Amazing piece of information. Thanks for updating all of us.

Another way to implement such a type Insurance Payments is through real time premium debits. Just like we have our prepaid mobile phones, our insurance premiums are paid in advance. Now in case of a rough or more than normal usage of the car, rash driving, speed limits and other factors,, a higher premium rate can be charged and the Insurance amount gets deducted at a faster rate. Similarly if we are a sedate driver following rules and driving the car appropriately, the lower will be the premium making it to run for more number of days (even above 365).

In my opinion, this will make the driver to drive the car responsibly. At the same time, changing the insurance provider will not be a much of a problem as each one can share their rates and a buyer can compare or switch over to other company when current insurance balance amount becomes zero.

What you have there is a brilliant idea. Careful with throwing away ideas for free..I might even take up your idea and write an industry white paper on it
Prepaid real-time insurance! Who would've thunk it? Huh...

[ShankarG]

Originally Posted by locusjag

.



What you have there is a brilliant idea. Careful with throwing away ideas for free..I might even take up your idea and write an industry white paper on it
Prepaid real-time insurance! Who would've thunk it? Huh...

Be my guest sir I'll be more than happy to know that this idea has been chiseled and turned into something relevant. Do write something and let me know if I can help you with some other out of the box ideas.

[sudev]

Originally Posted by locusjag

... . Only Progressive in the USA is testing to see what happens when it penalizes bad drivers. Without legislation that makes telematics compulsory, it is highly likely that all bad drivers would then simply opt out of the programme. ...

Where they will be charged higher premiums. First, simply because telematics help in reducing premiums for better drivers. And second, other insurances would start spreading premium on base of drivers with higher risk profile.

As automotive community it is incumbent on us to push this idea to insurance companies. So creating some white paper is good idea.

[katchkamalesh]

Originally Posted by locusjag

I might even take up your idea and write an industry white paper on it
Prepaid real-time insurance! Who would've thunk it? Huh...

Below might not be related to UBI. However I would like understand the future of motor insurance.

I saw from your opening post that you are a hard boiled P&C consultant.

I am aware that motor insurance forms a major chunk of P&C insurance segment.

Already many insurers are giving discounts to vehicles fitted with crash preventing technologies like AEBS.

Going forward, as autonomous vehicles (Google car) take control of driving the vehicle who do you think will be liable to pay insurance? What would be the premium?

I believe that it would just be a fraction of today's insurance and OEMs are liable for insurance.

Please share your thoughts.

[Kings_Wit]

Originally Posted by GTO

A nice App from the insurance company could capture all this data off your smartphone. Data can then be uploaded whenever the user has a wi-fi connection (thus saving the insurance company data costs).

Apps that monitor and rate drivers ride quality have been around for sometime. I think StateFarm was the first company to do this. Anyone could download the app, take a short drive and could instantly see how they scored on a 0-100 scale.
Source

Meanwhile, speaking of Progressive Insurance, as expected they have already tied up with a mobile partner to roll out apps.
Source

Internet of Things (IoT) is already changing business models everywhere. However, that being said, I keep centering around the simple fact that modern smartphones are already IoT ready and companies can simply leverage those inbuilt sensors rather than investing in hardware. Its not only cost-efficient but also universally scalable. Unless, there is a need for specialised sensors for heat, pressure, altitude etc.

For all other applications of IoT on auto insurance and their implications, I found a lovely white paper from AT Kearney which is a fantastic read. They even talk about how IoT could go beyond car insurance and link to other service providers in one seamless experience. (insurance provider, security service provider, Auto OEM, etc.)
Whitepaper Link

[AutoNoob]

Originally Posted by katchkamalesh

Going forward, as autonomous vehicles (Google car) take control of driving the vehicle who do you think will be liable to pay insurance? What would be the premium?

Two days back, I was reading a report on Google cars that were involved in accidents till date. I had similar thought, that incase of accident by an autonomus car who has to face criminal liability ? Customer or the car manufacturer ?

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by sudev

Where they will be charged higher premiums. First, simply because telematics help in reducing premiums for better drivers. And second, other insurances would start spreading premium on base of drivers with higher risk profile.

As automotive community it is incumbent on us to push this idea to insurance companies. So creating some white paper is good idea.

No really, the end-game is to bring in the principle of equity into insurance. Those who drive well should not be subsidizing the bad habits of others. Charging higher premiums is around the corner based on driving habits. It has just not happened yet.

Also, I doubt if Indian insurers would lap up telematics anytime soon. There are so many other things that haven't fallen in place yet. To sell a concept to a Business organization, you would have to convince the gatekeepers, purchase influencers and the actual users. There is a wide state of frustration and apathy across all these levels in the insurance industry in India today quite sadly, so much so that it becomes tough to convince them to invest and adopt something as futuristic as telematics.

Take the concept of Experience Rating an insurance applicant (based on his/her past losses). The USA has an industry-wide database known as CLUE [Comprehensive Loss UW exchange] in which all losses are reported at the click of a button. In India, if at all an insurer wants to check the past losses of an applicant, they actually write a letter and send it via India post to various past insurers...! I have spoken to Indian Underwriters who are frustrated by lack of response from the other insurers. so they don't even do experience rating in India. And there are so many other things on the "must have" list in India and legal and structural reforms which need to be done first. The driving licenses issued by any RTO in India is most likely spurious, for starters.

So even though telematics can be applied in India to just measure the number of miles of usage, i just don't see any buyers for it yet.

Originally Posted by AutoNoob

Two days back, I was reading a report on Google cars that were involved in accidents till date. I had similar thought, that incase of accident by an autonomus car who has to face criminal liability ? Customer or the car manufacturer ?

On Autonomous cars, there have been various white papers written, on whether these can kill the Auto insurance industry on the whole. The jury is out for sure - but I am sure that the Autonomous car OEMs would try to transfer the responsibility for certain crashes if they could prove that the owners did not perform any required repairs or maintenance on their cars that crashed. Otherwise, I foresee a huge boom in the Commercial Insurance liability insurance market on the side of the OEMs.
And then, you would need to still purchase Uninsured motorist coverage, in the event some dolt with no insurance manages to make their Autonomous car crash into yours.
Off topic, you would also still need to purchase Comprehensive insurance coverage too to cover all other possibilities - floods, earthquakes, storms, falling objects etc., even in the era of autonomous cars. So I think autonomous cars won't kill off the auto insurance industry.

[katchkamalesh]

Originally Posted by AutoNoob

Two days back, I was reading a report on Google cars that were involved in accidents till date. I had similar thought, that incase of accident by an autonomus car who has to face criminal liability ? Customer or the car manufacturer ?

Based on my experience from several interaction from industry participants, I believe that the OEMs will be liable however, the systems suppliers will also be held responsible if any of their part fails and if that failure has lead to an accident.

It would be more of a product liability insurance.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by AutoNoob

Two days back, I was reading a report on Google cars that were involved in accidents till date. I had similar thought, that incase of accident by an autonomus car who has to face criminal liability ? Customer or the car manufacturer ?

Originally Posted by katchkamalesh

Below might not be related to UBI. However I would like understand the future of motor insurance.

I saw from your opening post that you are a hard boiled P&C consultant.

I am aware that motor insurance forms a major chunk of P&C insurance segment.

Already many insurers are giving discounts to vehicles fitted with crash preventing technologies like AEBS.

Going forward, as autonomous vehicles (Google car) take control of driving the vehicle who do you think will be liable to pay insurance? What would be the premium?

I believe that it would just be a fraction of today's insurance and OEMs are liable for insurance.

Please share your thoughts.

Hi, after this conversation, it really bugged me that I couldn't say any more than I did on self-driving cars. I just wrote a post on this topic yesterday; please check it out if it still interests you: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/intern...-vehicles.html