IOT/Telematics

It is no surprise that insurers are looking to health tracking technology to create new possibilities for accurate pricing and incentivizing better living.

Forty-six percent of consumers are open to pay-per-mile and 45% are interested in a program that rewards safe driving with discounts, according to a Nationwide survey. Yet only 45% of agents offer telematics to a quarter or fewer of customers.

Only 32% of 2,750 U.S. consumers surveyed by the company in fall 2021 had been offered telematics-based insurance, the company said. Of those that were offered, 49% took the offer, and 64% have stuck with it.

By facilitating access to rich, unstructured data in real-time, technology is paving the way for insurers to employ greater personalization and become customer-centric. It can drive tremendous growth opportunities as well as cost and operational efficiencies by promoting wellbeing and prevention services.

As the effects of the pandemic continue to play out, market activity indicates commercial lines insurers are reprioritizing their tech-oriented projects, with some plans continuing to move forward while others have slowed down.

Not only is digital technology changing but so is the regulatory landscape. Some U.S. states have passed laws that will lead the insurance industry to take a fresh look at technology such as Bluetooth and navigation because they capture significant amounts of personal information from drivers and occupants.

New research highlights the evolving role of the insurance industry from reimbursements to incentivizing to reduce risk and prevent losses altogether.

In other news: Liberty Mutual launches insurance agency; Neptune Flood releases carbon-neutral plan; New York Life announces CEO-elect.

The acquisition is a win for Lemonade’s recently launched car insurance product. Metromile has a decade of driving data based on its usage-based model and it operates licenses in 49 states, all of which will be merged into a single company, if the deal goes through.

Arity, a mobility data and analytics company founded by Allstate in 2016, has made its nearly 100 million driving risk scores exclusively available on Transparent.ly, a platform for auto insurance marketers to leverage leads and target shoppers.