Wunelli is a major player in driving data collection for the auto-insurance industry, so it is crucially important that the company is able to collect its metrics with the highest levels of precision possible. Traditionally, Wunelli used averages for drivers in certain situations: young drivers are usually more reckless, and those who have been in accidents before are likely to encounter more. However, most people would agree that they are anything but average, and that statistics alone can't pinpoint their specific driving habits.
However, by using the data collected from a new Telematics app, motor insurance pricing is likely to undergo a revolution. Acording to Paul Stacy, research and development director for Wunelli, “Most insurers are currently under and over pricing premiums because they are not taking driving scores into account when pricing. We have been collecting data for five years and accumulated enough knowledge to say with certainty how the future can look for insurers if they use driving scores to personalise pricing. Directly measuring driving behaviors drramatically improves pricing accuracy when combined with traditional rating factors.”
Stacy references driving scores because that is how the app presents itself to users. Users simply download the app and place their mobile device in their car while driving around normally. After a approximately 200 miles of driving, the app will have collected enough data to generate a driver score and send it through the cloud to Wunelli. In the future, similar systems could be implemented within connected iOS cars.
Using a combination of GPS technology and sensors within the mobile device, Wunelli is able to remotely gather predictive driving parameters, like the time and day of the week when most driving is done, verify garaging, record speeding and even rate how smoothly the driver brakes and takes hard corners. Already, Wunelli has found that drivers are more than 10 times more likely to have an accident in a 40 mph zone than at 70 mph, and that most claims are filed between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Saturday mornings.
It is clear that mobile devices have more applications than most are aware of, because Wunelli is certainly thinking outside the box by utilizing mobile apps and cloud computing to collect and organize insurance information. Ultimately this will make it easier for drivers to prove their ability to drive, resulting in lower insurance bills overall.
Edited by
Alisen Downey
