Young driver proposals: a disappointing lost opportunity. Young driver proposals published today by the Department for Transport represent a lost opportunity to embrace the considerable pace of change in telematics. The proposals appear to completely ignore black box technology or telematics. A such, they represent more redundant, head-in-the-sands, thinking. The proposals come from the Transport Research Laboratory which it claims is ‘creating the future of transport’. Download the shortened summary here: novice-driver-research-findings Let’s be clear, there is an enormous issue here.… read more →
The Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology has published the submissions into its inquiry into horizon scanning (that is, the way government looks forward and anticipates important trends). Among a number of topics it has included ‘autonomous road vehicles and intelligent transport infrastructure’. We took this as an opportunity to alert Parliament to the fact Government appears to have failed in the past, and is failing now, to adequately anticipate the changes taking place in intelligent transport infrastructure. Background… read more →
Vehicle tracking is all the rage at the moment. Both commercial fleets and individual customers are taking up vehicle tracking systems for a variety of reasons from providing additional security to improvising scheduling. Motivating almost all these reasons however is the same bottom line: vehicle tracking can substantially reduce costs when intelligently implemented. Here we take an in depth look at five ways you can save by adopting vehicle tracking systems. Increasing fuel efficiency The biggest market impact on haulage… read more →
REVIEW: The insurers’ consumer factsheet on telematics insurance – verdict: Send it back to the drawing board – Needs much more work. I confess to be bewildered by this document from the Association of British Insurers and British Insurance Brokers Association – published here. The authors say ‘this factsheet’ has been: developed in consultation with insurers, the Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates the insurance industry, and the Information Commissioner’s Office, which promotes data privacy for individuals. If that is the… read more →
REVIEW: Three steps forward – three steps back – The Association of British Insurers and the British Insurance Brokers Association guidance on selling telematics insurance products. This review takes a stab at discussing, from the reasonably-informed citizen/consumer point of view, one of the first codes of guidance into the selling of telematics insurance products. The guide (published May 2013) is available here. It comes from the Association of British Insurers which represents ‘the UK’s insurance, long-term savings and investment industry’… read more →
What’s up Doc? [1]: So, what is actually happening in the world of telematics – and who is doing what and why? Welcome, dear reader, to what is the first of what we hope will be a series of illuminating reports. Our mission? To uncover what is happening in the world of telematics, discover who are the movers and shakers, illuminate their motives, and ask: what do we, the ordinary informed consumer citizens stand to get out of it all?… read more →
In the first of a series of reviews of the recent insurance telematics conference (Chicago Sept 4-5) we ask if the industry is in danger of getting the privacy issue back-to-front. The conventional approach to privacy issues is summed up in the phrase – ‘Privacy – are, that’s for the old folks’. Young people, goes the conventional wisdom, with everyday use of social media, are completely at ease with broadcasting personal information to all and sundry – or at least,… read more →
Review – Telematics the game changer – Reinventing auto insurance – AT Kearney The insurance telematics conference currently under way in Chicago (Sept 4 – 5) is being told that telematics will be the biggest game changer in the vehicle insurance market for more than 50 years. Consultancy AT Kearney, internationally represented, but usefully with offices in Chicago, is unusually plain speaking on the subject – ‘Telematics … could dramatically alter the auto insurance industry’ it says in a report… read more →
Rob Prime reports exclusively on this site from the world’s largest telematics insurance conference being held in Chicago. This report is from the morning session on the last day. Much discussion this morning on which business model to adopt in order to recoup from the customer the value of the offered discounts. ‘Here is a simple example – the customer was paying £500 for car insurance – the use of either on-board device or app lowers this to £400. The… read more →
Rob Prime reports from the world’s largest telematics insurance conference – Chicago. ‘The afternoon was mainly taken up with technology companies promoting their various devices’, says Rob. ‘There are a lot of companies pitching at the medium to small insurance companies because they sense panic in the market – a panic induced by telematics. ‘These companies produce devices – apps, dongles – there’s a lot of talk about dongles here – and the supporting data capture and data processing capability.… read more →
