Telematics insurers are on the search for their ideal typical customers – and it turns out that some of the most likely candidates are to be found in the ‘millennium generation’ – a telematics Tess and her male counterpart telematics Tom. US consultancy LexisNexis has drawn up a detailed profile of these customers who, they recently suggested, should be among the target customers for whom telematics insurers should be on the lookout. The profile is quite specific. The ideal customer,… read more →

UK  eCall policy is likely to cause confusion for insurers and customers and only assist the high-end market.  How UK telematic insurers respond to eCall services is an issue in the UK as the moment it does not support the mandatory installation of eCall devices. The UK government has been warned that this will delay the introduction of telematics-aided safety features which could be limited to high-end expensive vehicles leaving poorer drivers (and thus more vulnerable vehicles) either with limited private provision… read more →

The Transport Systems Catapult (TSC), an initiative to promote telematics in the UK, has launched a bid for £46.6 million in a five-year programme to boost the UK intelligent mobility sector. Its five-year-plan was officially launched in London (in a transport museum) last week [Wednesday October 23 2013]. At this launch the UK government Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts MP, stressed ‘..the government’s commitment to the innovation agenda in general and the catapult programme in particular.’ The TSC’s aim is… read more →

The EC has clarified its position on eCall after criticism that the system was not responding to issues of customer choice and standardisation. Criticism appeared in a note published in Belgium in September which appeared to show that a consortium of insurers, touring clubs, manufacturers and repairers were concerned that the EC was not doing enough to ensure a level playing field by mandating an interoperable, secure, standardised and open-access platform for eCall … eCall is a Europe-wide telematics system… read more →

This week could see the UK government announce plans for how it proposes to make changes to insurance – this could include promotion of telematics. One of the government’s objectives has been to assist insurers reduce what is seen to be a rise in fraudulent claims – particularly whiplash claims. It has been strongly argued that telematics devices can halt fraudulent claims – and Italy has been cited as an example of how. Figures recently discussed by insurers show that… read more →

The major talking point in the EC today (October 25) is the digital economy and information rights. Much of the discussion centres on nations hacking into each others phones – but there is a big issue here for telematics (and for us as citizens). It is an issue on which the European Commission (EC) is consulting – consultations close in four weeks time (Monday November 25). The consultation is called: Access to multimodal traffic and travel data in the European… read more →

Telematics generally, and telematics insurance and transport applications in particular, depend upon the swift processing of large amounts of data. This data has value – it is being called the new oil. How is this oil to be piped, transported, stored and used? The data issue is generating big concerns world-wide and according to at least one major player, there’s a shortage of people who can do the job. One of the best attended sessions at last week’s (Japan, October… read more →

The UK Government-sponsored Transport Systems Catapult (TSC), which promises to be ‘the centre from which the UK leads the world in Intelligent Mobility’ is due to launch its five-year programme next week (commencing Oct 28). Although a brief announcement about the report – which has the potential to change UK telematics – appears on its website there is little detail about its activities (although there is a wealth of high-sounding ambition). The TSC, due to fully-open in its Milton Keynes… read more →

Progress in the application of telematics to encourage greener driving styles is revealed in the latest interim results and field trials from the EU ecoDriver project. The €14.5 million project, with €10.7m EU contribution, coordinated by Professor Oliver Carsten at the University of Leeds Institute for Transport Studies, runs for four years ending in 2015. It is one of the major EU intelligent mobility projects. Project coordination is in the UK at University of Leeds (Institute for Transport Studies) while… read more →

  Strong push for young-driver telematics in response to Government sponsored research The publication of the Transport Road Laboratory’s long-awaited research paper of young driver licensing has had an unexpected result – the strong push from at least one insurer of telematics insurance products. The research report – which we review here – contains no mention of telematics, despite the fact that research from other parts of government have strongly recommended that when considering young driver issues telematics has an… read more →