1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188 
UPFRONT DISCOUNTS
Page 51
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Martin Ecott, divisional director at specialist commercial vehicle insurance broker Heath Lambert Group, believes that until insurers can see exactly what they may get out of telematics and the degree to which its use will reliably reduce actual claims, the industry can only carry on basing premiums more on past claims than anything else.
"We all believe telematics will have a positive effect — but at the moment, nobody really knows what that effect will be." he says.
This isn't all bad news for vehicle operators hoping to cut their premiums. Although it means there may not be any up-front savings to be gained by fitting fleet management-type teiematics systems, those fleets that have them and use them to improve their drivers' performance probably will eventually reduce their claims record and enjoy better premiums, says Ecott.
Not only that, but the body of evidence they gradually build up to show that telematics does help reduce claims will eventually help sway insurers' perceptions of it.
"The more companies that do that and the more information insurers have that shows a real claims reduction from fleets that have fitted telematics, the sooner we'll get to a point where insurers will see a reduction in their cost of risk going forward," says Ecott.
"In the meantime, fleets that can show a reduced claims record do eventually get the discount — even if it's not upfront."
This does, of course, present something of a chicken-and-egg situation: insurers won't give upfront discounts until there is evidence from operators that claims really fall; on the other hand, operators may feel disinclined to fit telematics systems until they can be sure that such systems really pay their way, including in terms of insurance costs.