Live Insurance News

Usage based insurance is already going mainstream

November 4, 2013November 2, 2013 Julie Campbell

This type of auto policy has started to become one of the standard offerings of many insurers. Though the potential benefits of usage based insurance have been clear for some time, this new technology based version of auto coverage has always represented an extremely small percentage of the offerings from insurers. This trend is starting to change as the tech is picked up by a growing number of insurers. Moreover, as more auto insurance companies offer these products in a larger number of locations, consumers are also finding the chance…

Auto insurance usage based programs could reduce rates by 15 percent

October 11, 2013October 8, 2013 Julie Campbell

Providers in Ontario are eyeing these new telematics plans as the Canadian province seeks to lower premiums. The government of the Canadian Province of Ontario has tasked the auto insurance industry with reducing rates by 15 percent, and they are now looking to usage based programs based on telematics to be able to achieve this goal. That said, this type of plan is not necessarily designed to benefit people who commute every day in rush hour traffic. Auto insurance companies are now seeking to speak with the financial services regulator…

Usage based insurance may exchange discounts for privacy risks

October 1, 2013September 28, 2013 G. Turner

Although the programs are offering cheaper premiums to good drivers, it may come at a cost. Pay as you drive programs, also known as usage based insurance plans, are rapidly increasing in their popularity and use a wireless device installed in the car to allow the insurer to track the actual driving behaviors of the individual so that he or she can receive discounts based on safe habits. However, a recent study is indicating that in exchange for lower premiums, the driver’s privacy may be at risk. The usage based…

Auto insurance UBI programs gain massive popularity

September 3, 2013August 31, 2013 Julie Campbell

Both insurers and consumers are finding the benefits of pay as you drive coverage to be highly appealing. According to the results of a recent survey, the consumer interest in usage based auto insurance is rapidly climbing, and that it is likely that insurers will take rapid action to take advantage of the appeal that this type of program has to offer. Estimates are now indicating that by 2018, one in every five insurers will offer usage based insurance (UBI). The survey was conducted by Lynx Research Consulting, and it…

Usage based insurance clears man of murder charges

July 5, 2013July 3, 2013 Julie Campbell

The device for the man’s auto coverage program helped to prove that he could not have been the culprit. A usage based insurance device used by a man in northeastern Ohio has helped to prove to the courts that he could not have been guilty of the suffocation death of his daughter, who was seven months old. The man was acquitted in a Cleveland court partially because of the data in his UBI device. Michael Beard, 28 years old, was acquitted by a jury of murder as well as other…

Usage based insurance subscribers expected to double

June 24, 2013June 22, 2013 Julie Campbell

Over the next three years, there will be twice as many users of UBI auto policies in the United States and Europe. According to the latest data from Frost & Sullivan, a business consulting firm, sixty percent of large insurers in the United States are already offering usage based insurance telematics programs to provide discounts to their auto insurance customers who are safe drivers. The U.S. is seen as the fastest growing market for this type of coverage technology program. Among those auto insurance companies who are offering this type…

Usage based insurance pilot program being tested on motorcycles

June 7, 2013June 5, 2013 Julie Campbell

The test will be performed by SGI, which makes it among the first in the world to use telematics on these vehicles. SGI (Saskatchewan Government Insurance) has announced its proposal to begin a program that will apply usage based insurance technology to policies that cover motorcycles, joining the very first in the world to take this step. Only a small handful of other companies across the globe have intentions to test telematics for motorcycles. Usage based insurance technology functions by installing a small device into a vehicle in order to…