Autonomy partners on digital auto insurance

di-tesla-stock-062019
The steering wheel of a Tesla Inc. Model S P100D electric vehicle is seen at the EV Trend Korea exhibition in Seoul, South Korea on April 12, 2018. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

Autonomy, an electric vehicle subscription company, announced a partnership with Liberty Mutual Insurance to offer its subscribers month-to-month insurance products. Autonomy also recently announced the launch of its insurance platform partnership with DigiSure, a data-driven insurance software company.

"Liberty Mutual is at the forefront of the evolution of subscription-based auto insurance, offering innovative programs to meet the needs of our partners' business models. We are excited to partner with Autonomy to create easy, seamless access to electric vehicles," said Liberty Mutual Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships, Gita Gupta, in a press release.

DigiSure's digital platform enables Autonomy to provide its customers with month-to-month auto insurance coverage and a seamless customer service experience. Through a smartphone application, customers can now digitally customize monthly payments for their EV subscriptions. 

"Month-to-month auto insurance is probably the most important component of insurance for us, because we are a month-to-month product," explains Scott Painter, CEO and founder of Autonomy, in an interview with Digital Insurance. "If you don't have month-to-month auto insurance as an option, you can add us to your auto insurance policy, but buying an annual auto insurance for a month-to-month product is not really a good fit. So, being able to do this in real-time is transformational – and DigiSure gives us that."

Through DigiSure's platform, Autonomy can digitally assess risks and validate drivers, once customers download the app and scan their drivers licenses. The app verifies the identity of the driver, assesses their ability to make payments on time, and reviews their driving history. After they are verified, Autonomy can virtually quote and bind coverage to offer a customer an insurance policy once they are in an EV subscription – all within the same application, in a nearly instantaneous process.

"If we didn't have DigiSure, we'd have to build these tools from the ground up. It might take a long, long time and add a lot of risk to our business," Painter explains. "We're thrilled that DigiSure has developed all of these tools, but we're also thrilled that it works with our underwriters. We're not able to do these things in real-time without a partner like DigiSure."

Once the premium is paid, customers receive and manage coverage or payments for their vehicle subscriptions through the app, including in cases of an auto accident. DigiSure's platform fully digitalizes the claims process for Autonomy customers – no paperwork, no adjusters; all aspects of claims handling are administered directly to customers through their smartphones.

Mike Shim, CEO and co-founder of DigiSure, said in a company press release, "Autonomy is inventing a completely new way for people to enjoy EV ownership, and we believe that requires a new kind of insurance experience as well. We are excited to collaborate with Autonomy to embed auto insurance and protection products seamlessly into their offering for subscribers."

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Auto industry Auto insurance Transportation technology Digital Transformation Insurtech
MORE FROM DIGITAL INSURANCE