Insurers should focus on ‘pay how you drive’ says Towers Watson

A consumer survey from Towers Watson, Telematics: what European consumers say, has revealed that frequent motorists are more likely to be interested in a telematics policy than those who get behind the wheel less.

Responses from the UK revealed that motorists who used motorways very frequently were the most likely to be interested in a telematics policy (68%), while rare users of urban roads were the least interested in telematics (30%). See graph below.

 

Towers Watson global property and casualty pricing leader Duncan Anderson said: “Products that focused on mileage, restricted times of vehicle usage or simple ‘event counters’ seem likely to have a short-term future. The indications are that the appeal of telematics to most consumers is largely associated with ‘pay how you drive’.”

Pay how you drive policies do not restrict the mileage of the insured and instead base premiums on driving style. The report said that insurers who focus on policies that base premiums on distance driven “will be limiting their market”.