Will telematics save us from aggregators?

If you read my earlier postings on telematics (otherwise known as 'black box' or GPS car insurance) and the recent post on the new insurance aggregation service provided by Google, you may have combined these two things. You may have then, like me, asked how motor insurance comparison will work for those who opt for a little electronic box in the boot of their car.

In theory, telematics should give more personalised insurance premiums, as more data is collected and more relevant policies are created for each driver. The technology is used already in Brazil, South Africa and now also Australia, which have all apparently seen reductions in road deaths as a consequence.

UK insurers are starting to get more interested in telematics and so is Go Compare, one of the UK's leading aggregators. Go Compare initially approached telematics provider Wunelli to work on a 'black box comparison site' to understand more about telematics products. This led to Wunelli spending six months developing Compare the Box's price and product comparison facility.
http://www.comparethebox.com/

So far each insurer is compared using a number of a number of factors, including the location of the car and time driven (some charge extra for late night driving), but also other more detailed information such as acceleration, braking & cornering.

Back in April 2012, Compare the Box was the only telematics insurance aggregation website. But if the history of the web has told us anything, it is that when something unique and successful is developed..... a number of other similar services rush into this space very quickly.

Telematics : the future of car insurance?

Telematics in its most general sense is the combination of technology and moving vehicles. However this is most generally used when referring to the tracking of motors via GPS technology and therefore it's application in vehicle insurance.

There are several ways this technology can be used and insurance companies are still looking at different ways to best offer a product to the motor market. Some providers offering a ‘pay-as-you-drive’ model similar to the way you get ‘pay-as-you-go’ tariffs for mobile phones. But others can set up restrictions for drivers, with time and geography both being possible means of restricting customers.

This in theory means they can keep premiums low by agreeing with customers that they will avoid high risk / cost activity (e.g. Away from accident black spots) or only do a specific amount of annual mileage.
Taking this only a tiny step further, this therefore can be a system for rewarding the insured for positive driving.

That little box of electronics in the boot will know everywhere you go, the speed you do it and the time you got there... then it will always report this activity back. Making it a cross between the black box flight recorder, your little brother and a trucker's tachograph.