A partnership between pay-how-you-drive insurer Coverbox and vehicle tracking & movement monitoring technology market leader Ctrack looks set to drive vehicle insurance telematics forward two generations.
A clear demonstration that Ctrack is able to comply with Coverbox’s 18-point device strategy means that Ctrack’s massively-advanced interactive devices will soon be establishing new levels of data provision from vehicles to which they are fitted as part of pay-how-you-drive insurance products.
“We’re developing and progressing our soon-to-be-launched behavioural insurance product at an exciting rate, and it’s all hot in the wheeltracks of a resounding report which looks set to change the way car insurance premiums are set. This moves vehicle insurance telematics two or three generations beyond current equipment capabilities,” said Johan van der Merwe, deputy chairman of Coverbox, at Insurance Telematics 2012 in London.
“We have a clearly-defined device strategy – built around financial and supply security of the device company, as well as installation standards and control of tamper and removal security – and Ctrack meets and even exceeds our requirements.
“We know we shook a lot of people in the insurance industry by commissioning a report which reveals that there’s an overwhelming case for changing the way the insurance industry sets premiums – but the re-insurance industry simply cannot ignore the level of information and quantities of data the Coverbox-Ctrack combination will make available through a highly-advanced interactive device and supporting monitoring and analytics.
“The Holy Grail of the vehicle insurance industry is analysing and concluding the cause, process and effect of a vehicle accident or event – without giving the game away, we’re currently piloting absolutely tamper-proof interactive devices which provide previously unheard-of levels of data, but which also monitor and record driving behaviour and vehicle movement for a significant period before any sort of harsh or severe event.
“There is also the potential – even now – of incorporating overt or covert video recording into the system.
“We have also carried out tests to assess various on-board telematics devices’ response to being swapped in and out of vehicles, and we’re actually quite surprised at some of the results and responses.”
Saleem Miyan, managing director of Ctrack Europe Holdings Limited, said: “Pardon the pun, but we’ve been looking for a vehicle for our two-generations-on insurance telematics technology, and it is pretty clear that Johan van der Merwe and his Coverbox team have a vision and understanding which provides that vehicle.
“Coverbox’s team are not ‘make-do’ guys – we’ve walked into an environment in which not only do they recognise Ctrack’s potential impact, they’ve embraced it and catapulted it forward even further.”
Coverbox’s report into the vehicle insurance sector will be presented to a select panel of leading insurance companies in due course.
“What it reveals is that there’s an overwhelming case for changing the way the insurance industry sets premiums: we can record, analyse and compare driving behaviour as against applying insurance ‘proxy ratings’ – we get factual driving information, and base rates on driving style and location rather than lifestyle and home address,” said Johan van der Merwe.
“Ctrack’s technology is simply jaw-dropping in the context of pay-how-you-drive as Coverbox sees it.
“The report illustrates that both insurers and drivers will be better off if insurance is rated on driving style rather than lifestyle, and that good drivers don’t suffer from the behaviour of bad drivers – and Ctrack’s product and technology takes monitoring and recording to an utterly higher plane.”
Coverbox pay-how-you-drive insurance allows drivers to take out comprehensive cover paid for by the mile, with the price per mile varying according to the time of the day or night: off-peak, peak or “super-peak” times, and how the driver drives.
All Coverbox policyholders have a personal website enabling them to see precisely how many miles they are driving, and what the cost is. The technology behind Coverbox is based on proven equipment and technology.
Ctrack in the UK and Ireland are divisions of DigiCore Holdings, a global company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Founded in the 1990s, DigiCore specialises in the research, development, manufacturing, sales and support of technologically advanced tracking and resource management solutions.
Under the Ctrack brand, DigiCore offers a wide range of vehicle location, personal and lone worker tracking, fleet and work flow management, satellite navigation and security tools – with cost effective and scalable solutions that offer a unique combination of flexibility, reliability and functionality. As a result, more than 600,000 systems have been fitted in 50 countries across five continents, making DigiCore the most comprehensive industry service provider worldwide.
