New technology to revolutionise car insurance

Monday 03 March 2014

Smart technology that could change the way drivers pay for motor insurance is being launched by an international partnership involving Channel Islands telecoms provider JT.

The devices combine GPS tracking, "black box"-style data recording about acceleration and cornering, and a SIM card to communicate through the mobile phone network. It mean that insurance companies will be able to track exactly where, when and how a car is being driven, leading to a significant reduction in insurance premiums, and potentially reduce the number of accidents.

JT and Progressive Platforms are offering the Smart systems as a managed service to allow insurance companies to offer “usage-based insurance” that will in turn allow people to pick and choose when and how they drive, and to offer discounts accordingly. That technology will be particularly of interest in the UK where young drivers have to pay premiums of anything up to £4,000 for insurance.

Paul Bullock, Head of M2M at JT, said the service was a good example of how JT was doing more and more business overseas, and so bringing investment back to the Island.

“It has been estimated that over the next five years, 70% of cars in the UK could have these devices installed,” he said. “We hope that we can play a big part in that through our network of roaming agreements, and all of this will be managed in the Channel Islands, bringing money back to JT, which of course is ultimately owned by the Jersey taxpayer.”

JT’s involvement comes from its roaming partners around the world. Because the company is independent, it can sign deals giving it a network of agreements with all the major carriers.

The technology could also have significant safety implications, not just for traffic management, and “black box technology” for use in court, but for parents to check how teenagers are driving. The collective data will also be of enormous use to car manufacturers in terms of monitoring car performance and flagging up issues that can be alerted directly to the owners.

Progressive Platorms managing director, Mark Fensome, said that the service was a practical application of M2M technology.
 
“More and more, M2M technology, ‘Big Data and the “Internet of Things” is going to be a part of our everyday lives, and this is a great example of how innovation can improve public safety and save people money,” he said.