[subuiyer]

A couple of points that come to my mind on this subject:
1) The level of spatial tracking being discussed in this thread is already possible and perhaps happening when you move about with your GPS/GLONASS-enabled smartphone with all sorts of apps accessing that data.
2) Generally, the society (even Indian, albeit at a slower pace) has shown the tendency to equate and accept more advanced technology as progressive. There have been exceptions, but it is going to take something very unacceptable to the society at large to stop this from being adopted by mainstream. My example would be the CIBIL ratings-its implementation is a mess, lopsided-but impacts mainstream borrowers nevertheless.

[GTO]

This seems like a new solution when there's really no need of one. The best way for an insurance company to assess the premium should be the previous history of claims. If I've not had an accident / theft claim in 10 years, that means I drive well and park safely. So, what difference does it make if I cruise on the highway at 120 km/h while someone else does at 100 km/h? What difference if I tackle corners a little harder? I can be a faster yet better driver than the average Joe. See how credit history is calculated - I can spend more, but still be a superior financial manager to a lower spender.

This device could be useful for first-time / newbie drivers, but other than that, driving + claims history is the best way to calculate insurance premiums. Of course, there will be challenges in our multi-driver households (where several people drive the same car), unlike say the USA where it's usually one driver / car.

Even if ICICI-Lombard, Tata-AIG etc. join Bajaj Allianz and one day make it compulsory, we shouldn't sweat over it. Can always go to the public sector insurance firms. It'll be decades before they warm up to such a device .

100 bucks says there'll be a hack / mod to switch this device off temporarily when you want to swing the tail sideways .

[shibujp]

It was bound to come sooner than later. A couple of years ago I installed a similar application from Tata AIG named drive safe. However that was not linked to your insurance policy and gave no claims of lowering your policy. What is did though was score you based on your driving serving as some form of self assessment tool. Of course what they got back in returns was driving data.

However the app was such a battery hog that I eventually turned it off.

The Bajaj solution ties insurance to your usage patterns. Claimed benefit that I liked were insurance costs based on how often you use your car. However in history I am yet to see an insurance company that worked to drive your insurance costs down. The ideal case that a motor insurer likes is to insure a car that spends 365 days a year in the garage which means no risk.

But it would be interesting to see real life experiences with this product.

Originally Posted by GTO

This seems like a new solution when there's really no need of one. The best way for an insurance company to assess the premium should be the previous history of claims. If I've not had an accident / theft claim in 10 years, that means I drive well and park safely. So, what difference does it make if I cruise on the highway at 120 km/h while someone else does at 100 km/h? What difference if I tackle corners a little harder? I can be a faster yet better driver than the average Joe. See how credit history is calculated - I can spend more, but still be a superior financial manager to a lower spender.

GTO, an insurance company does NOT want you to corner harder. Period. They already give you a benefit of no claims in the form of NCBs. On a lighter note...Now that they've learn't that you corner hard - they figure it's time they got some of their money back!!

Drive on,
Shibu.

[GTO]

Bajaj Allianz answers some of the queries raised on this thread. Chandni Arora who heads the communications drops the following email.

Posting the email as is below

Every time the device is removed, the company data servers will come to know about it and an intimation will be sent to the customer on the app. If this is done very frequently, we will account for it on the basis of average miles run by that car in past or other similar cars and we will decide the premium accordingly.

Drivesmart primarily looks at good driving habits. If your driving pattern is aligned to good driving practices then you would save on fuel which would be manifolds than the premium that you pay for insurance. Currently a good amount of cross subsidy exists between good and bad drivers. Telematics can lead to savings for safe or infrequent drivers who also end up paying more because of the claims and driving behavior for a certain segment. Drivesmart is focusing on the concept of usage based insurance which is more personalized. Moreover, along with driving habits, we will also take into account the location at which vehicle is usually driven, which will take care of usual traffic conditions.

The idea of letting your insurer monitor your driving behavior and car condition might sound alarming, but the company understands the criticality in ensuring our customers’ privacy and data security. The data that the company will collect on the customer’s driving behavior will be strictly used for underwriting and better risk management in the future. The idea behind the initiative is to understand their behavior, anticipate their needs and provide solutions accordingly. From an insurer’s standpoint, keeping data safe is very critical since we understand the concerns over privacy of data. As a result, a robust architecture has been built for capturing, monitoring and controlling the data. Most importantly, the buyers will be educated about this application so that they make an informed decision.

Besides, most of us today whether knowingly or unknowingly are sharing data on various internet sites that we browse every day, where we see potential benefit in the service being offered. In many cases, users even share sensitive information related to health, financials or individual communications.

We can definitely assure you that the data that the Drive Smart device pulls out is not subject to this kind of ‘free trade’. The only hesitation that you might have about Telematics insurance is that it is not widespread as yet. But the way things are progressing, in the future telematics might be the new normal. Infact outside India, this is prevalent in many countries like the US, UK, South Africa and across Europe.

The data will not be shared with any third parties without prior consent of the Drivesmart customer except if it is binding on the company due to rules and regulations of the country.

The thresholds have been set basis an extensive study of the driving patterns of individuals and in conjunction with automobile experts. For instance thresholds to trigger hard braking and rash acceleration is measured in terms of acceleration/de-acceleration. Which in turn is measured in multiples of g (9.8 Meter/Sec2). When the user exceeds the benchmarked limits, inputs are provided to the user on their driving behaviour. The company will also compare other similar users on the DriveSmart platform to provide comparative data points.

A few incidents of hard braking would not paint the picture of the driving behavior. We would study the pattern before drawing an inference of the driving behavior.

Since Telematics as a concept in car insurance is still at a nascent stage in India and is evolving it is too early for the company to give you a clear benchmark. Post collecting the driving behavior data (DBD) of at least an year and only after correlating it with own damage claims data, the company will be able determine suitable benchmarks. Setting benchmarks to categorize good or risk prone data in absence of actual claims data would not be correct. Moreover we are wary of using the western world benchmarks, as they may not hold true for Indian road conditions. However to give a flavor, do the drivers accelerate hard from stops, do they take turn at high speed etc. might be used in categorizing good or risk prone driver.

The previous claims history is the traditional method of assessing claims and the changes in pricing effects both the drivers with a bad claims history as well as a good driver. So, today the individuals with good driving behavior are also subsidizing for the bad driving behavior of a certain segment. In India the pricing is still not customized.

Telematics is much more accurate way of categorizing drivers into good or risk prone. It encapsulates both quantity as well as quality of driving. Also thinking of Drivesmart from just insurance premium point of view would not be full justice. It gives plethora of value added benefits like tips on fuel saving, 24 X 7 road side assistance, geo fencing alerts, towing alerts to name a few which will help user in ensuring safety, security, convenience and of course savings.

[roadrunner_nv]

Its nice to see a proactive approach in clearing all the doubts from an insurer. While telematics is a new one for India, Im sure it will be a norm adopted by most going forward.

[nixie89]

Thanks for sharing the response from BAGIC. Interestingly I noticed each one of us want only others to drive safe, brake softly, follow traffic rules and behave like a gentlemen on the road. But hardly anyone seems to make a pledge that he/she will do the same. Why are we so scared to have this device installed and let insurance company monitor your driving pattern.
Agreed that customer benefit is not the priority for most corporates. But imagine that stupid driver who overtook you dangerously on the highway the other day, had this device installed and was slammed a higher insurance premium. Will he not think twice before making that dangerous move next time.
off-course he/she has the option to plug off the device but what if all insurance companies make it mandatory to have such monitoring device installed as a pre-requirement to claim damages. Can we rule out this possibility in future?

Now,let's talk privacy and data sharing. In today's scenario, one may only assume that app makers and others do what they say on privacy. The moment we give an app access to the mic on our smartphone (e.g. internet calling apps like Whatsapp, Viber or Skype), they can listen, record and transmit our conversations to be stored on their servers without our knowledge. Can anything be more dangerous than this.

These days, virtually every app requires users to sign in by creating their own profiles or use Facebook/Google sign in. . I noticed an app recently to check PNR status and it asked to access my Google profile.
How hard can it be for someone to access your identity, purchase patterns, contact lists, relations, fooding habits etc from so many apps on the phone
They might not be doing it now but the question is CAN they do it or not ?

[freedom]

Car insurance was up for renewal this month.

I went ahead with the Drive Assure Drivesmart Prestige plan. The drivesmart device was part of the package (it was advertised as free. But nothing is free.)

I got a Drivesmart device delivered to my home today. I have kept it plugged in to the OBD port.

I prefer to drive defensively. Lets see if the device likes my driving style and entitles me for lower premium next year. Fingers crossed.

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by freedom

Car insurance was up for renewal this month.

I went ahead with the Drive Assure Drivesmart Prestige plan. The drivesmart device was part of the package (it was advertised as free. But nothing is free.)

I got a Drivesmart device delivered to my home today. I have kept it plugged in to the OBD port.

I prefer to drive defensively. Lets see if the device likes my driving style and entitles me for lower premium next year. Fingers crossed.

Do we get to keep the device and continue to use it or return it if we don't renew with Bajaj Allianz the following year?

[freedom]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

Do we get to keep the device and continue to use it or return it if we don't renew with Bajaj Allianz the following year?

Yes, the device is yours to keep. However the app integration will only work if you continue to have Drive Smart rider in your insurance cover.