General Insurance Article - Wunelli to take telematics apps to next stage

 Driver Signature is identified using a range of metrics based on where, when and how motorists drive – characteristics that are individual to each driver. After collecting a certain number of trips meeting the minimum driving distance, a set of driving pattern attributes will be developed and a Driver Signature analytics model applied to classify the trips as either a driver trip or a passenger trip. This is then used as the basis for scoring all future journeys.

 There are recommended default settings, but the insurer will be able to choose customised parameters, including the minimum number of trips and minimum distance of trips, as well as the classification threshold. There is no customer interaction needed during this process, although insurers will have the option to manually override the model classification results in the app.

 Paul Stacy, Founding Director of Wunelli said: “When, where and how motorists drive is entirely individual to them and we call this unique identifier Driver Signature analytics. This key fact has been central to the development of telematics-based insurance and in particular to smartphone telematics apps as a more cost-effective alternative to fixed black boxes. Insurers have needed to trust that the policyholder was the person driving the car and not their partner, friend or parent, and that they were actually in a car, not a taxi, train etc. Identifying them entirely through their driving behaviour data without any reliance on confirmation from the customer, has been key.”

 “The advances we have made in Driver Signature analytics represent a significant step forward for telematics apps. This improves both the customer experience and removes the risk of fraud – that is, policyholders claiming to be driving when they are not and vice versa. This development should bring insurers and brokers a new level of confidence in the use of smartphone apps as a means to collect driving behaviour data to support telematics based insurance.”