What’s ahead as insurers, automakers partner on connected cars

March 10, 2022 6:35 AM

Attendees walk through the Washington Auto Show in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. The auto show, designated as one of the nation's top five auto shows by the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, runs from January 21-30. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg — Attendees walk through the Washington Auto Show in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 21, 2022.

Partnerships between automakers and insurance carriers have existed for decades, but more recent deals offer customers insurance options at the point of sale using telematics data capabilities built into connected-car platforms.

Matthew Carrier, principal at Deloitte, says original-equipment manufacturers – or OEMs – have had insurance operations since the 1990s, but the recent surge in more partnerships was triggered by telematics. Almost all new cars have a connected system within the vehicle that collects data on how and where the vehicle is being driven.

“The automakers see the telematics data as an important aspect of where the insurance market is going, a lot of carriers have telematics solutions on a phone with an app, but I do think that the telematics data that the OEM is generating is more consistent,” says Carrier.

But for insurance purposes, telematics data can’t stand on its own. Traditional insurance factors, like historical accident data are necessary too, which is why the partnerships are happening.

“OEMs are collecting information and they know how cars are being driven and when an accident happens, but they don’t know how much it costs and what the outcome was – that information is being captured by the insurance carrier,” says Carrier. “To solve for better pricing, you need both predictive analytics and predictive modeling.”

Team up
Will Nicklas, chief operating officer at Toyota Insurance Management Solutions, said via email that it appears many OEMs are seeing the same opportunity. Toyota recently launched its first branded insurance product in several states underwritten by Toggle, a brand of Farmers Insurance.

“As we developed various UBI options for customers it became apparent customers welcomed a broader conversation around insurance options when they purchased their new vehicle,” said Nicklas.

Mercedes-Benz USA and its subsidiary Daimler Insurance Agency have also partnered with an insurer–Liberty Mutual is working with the OEM on its branded insurance product Mercedes-Benz Insurance.

Wen Liu, head of insurance at Mercedes-Benz Mobility North America, said via email that insurance is integral to vehicle ownership.

“We see more seamless integration with insurance offerings across the vehicle purchase and ownership journey as the future for us,” said Liu. “That integration will come from several facets, ranging from the customer experience to policy coverage.”

Liu added that technology including telematics and the inclusion of various safety technologies within the underwriting process like antilock brakes and adaptive braking is ahead.

General Motors recently announced plans to launch an UBI product in some states this year. GM’s OnStar Insurance Services is underwritten by American Family.

State Farm and Ford announced a partnership for UBI for new vehicle owners. Drive Safe and Save Connected Car is available in several states with plans to roll out more this year.

Tesla also offers its own UBI product in five states with plans to expand. The electric vehicle maker previously partnered with Liberty Mutual on insurance products.

Brian Levine, vice president of strategy and analytics at Mobiquity, a consulting firm, says car manufacturers are watching and learning from these partnerships before offering their own products without insurers.

“You can’t fight gravity, it is going to happen,” says Levine. “Insurers need to look at what they can offer unique to the auto company. The used car market will support insurers, but long-term, insurers need to know that this is coming. … At the same time insurance is not what these companies do but Tesla can fail for a while.”

Digital Insurance spoke with several insurance analysts about the possible future ahead for these partnerships and whether more OEMs would consider offering their own insurance products without underwriters.

Mark Breading, partner at SMA, says higher-end auto brands might benefit from strong brand loyalty if they offer insurance products.

“That’s just a hypothesis, I don’t know for personal auto if it will be harder for traditional OEMs if they have brand recondition but they have to come up with a unique value proposition," says Breading. "For commercial fleet, some existing vehicle manufacturers like Ford may have a stronger play.”

Breading adds that telematics is the game changer in the market.

“Every new vehicle has embedded telematics capabilities. …With embedded devices, that is what you need to understand and manage risk. In the past, auto manufacturers didn’t want to underwrite but now with access to this data they can hire some actuaries and underwriters to have their own capabilities to assess risk and move into usage-based insurance. I think this will happen slowly, telematics has accelerated with the pandemic and everyone is racing for the market as adoption increases. I think there will be a lot of activity in the next five years.”

Breading said success for the OEMs will also depend on whether the claims experience and response are good.

Jeffrey Williams, senior analyst at Forrester, says the partnerships are another distribution channel and that most OEMs won’t want to get involved in the complex insurance market because of regulations and stringent capital requirements.

“They are just another channel that insurers are trying to get in front of as they rethink how they distribute,” says Williams. “Companies all over the world are trying to understand their customers and simplify the customer journey. … I expect to see more and more of these types of relationships. There are other examples and we will see this continue to grow as insurers partner with all manner of companies to distribute and place insurance in a customer journey.”

Williams says he expects to see more OEM and carrier relationships in the future.

Ernst Renner, partner and U.S. head of insurance at Capco, says he sees the partnerships continuing to grow and evolve.

“For customers, this is great,” says Renner. “Customers are used to seeing and buying add-ons when buying a vehicle so adding coverage as an option is a cool thing. It fits into the flow elegantly. What’s interesting is that the partnering between vehicle manufacturers and insurers can create an opportunity in this model to decrease or augment premium pricing. Telematics and monitoring can provide a strong base to get consumers tuned into better pricing based on actual driving behaviors.”

Renner says that he sees big shifts going forward related to micro-insurance transactions like commuters paying a portion of a rideshare insurance premium as a part of a rideshare "tax" or in the fee.

“That is in the future,” says Renner. “At the end of the day, consumers are primarily concerned with cost and then getting help when they need it if there is a claim. Bundling the sales and partnering with auto manufacturers creates a pain-free transaction early on with potentially lower premiums to the driver. With the bundle promise comes data from the vehicle when there is an issue with the car. This brings transparency to the carrier on claim risk and better certainty on the risk they are underwriting.”

Renner says data privacy conversations are still necessary as drivers weigh what they’re comfortable sharing and how it is being used.