Telematics

Telematics is not a new concept but as the technology has improved its use has become more widespread in both commercial and personal insurance. The size of the equipment and the cost have reduced making it feasible to deliver multiple solutions via more traditional fitted black boxes, “self-install devices” or apps on smart phones.

These cost reductions and rising business expenses have led to an increasing number of Fleet Managers recognising the benefits and efficiency savings the technology can bring. Different businesses use telematics in different ways but most will at least use it to improve driver safety to reduce the number of accidents and lower insurance premiums.

The use of telematics can:

• Give substantial fuel savings through improved driving and reduced idling times
• Provide accurate mileage capture to save time and expense
  Protect assets against theft through tracking
• Reduce vehicle down time
• Optimise vehicle use

Telematics has also been used by individual drivers in providing evidence in disputes over accidents. A judge in Doncaster threw out a motor claim after the GPS information from a telematics device supplied by the insurer showed that the motorists involved had staged the event. In this crash for cash incident, a 27 year old driver made the claim after he was in a rear-end collision with an Insure the Box policy holder. The drivers denied knowing each other and claimed the accident was genuine but the telematics data showed that the policy holder had visited the claimant’s home on at least 50 occasions.

Mike Brockman, CEO of Insure the Box, said “This is a great victory for the insurance industry and above all, for our honest policy holders. Less fraud means lower premiums for our customers. This sends a clear message that while we will always seek to pay honest claims promptly, we will use the unique data at our disposal to fight insurance fraud.” The vast majority of fraudulent claims identified by the company were withdrawn once telematics evidence was demonstrated. The benefit of this has been to protect customers from unfair claims made by third parties such as allegations that they caused accidents when the data shows that there was no collision.

If you would like more information or advice on telematics please contact one of our team.