Agero, Inc., a leading provider of roadside assistance and vehicle and driver safety, today announced its mobile usage based insurance (UBI) platform. The new platform provides a holistic UBI solution by introducing two new important mobile applications: PolicyPal, which tracks driving habits in real-time, and Auto Crash Notification (ACN), which automatically notifies emergency services within moments of an accident occurring. Agero’s mobile telematics platform addresses the important challenge as UBI programs switch from embedded OBDII devices to mobile app and cloud-based solutions. This is the latest addition to the company’s suite of insurance products and offerings. Agero will be demonstrating its Mobile Telematics Platform at the Insurance Telematics Conference (booth #19) from September 3-4 in Chicago, where Agero’s Vice President of Product, Julian Bourne, will be one of the keynote speakers.
Agero’s innovative mobile telematics platform provides UBI predictive analytics that uses mobile device sensors on the smartphone to track driver behavior in real-time, such as how often and far a policyholder drives; how hard they brake or accelerate; if they travel during peak urban traffic hours; and more. By having this data, insurers are able to precisely tailor a driver’s insurance premium to match their specific risk levels. In addition, using Agero’s ACN technology, the mobile device is able to determine the severity of impact in an incident and can respond by contacting emergency responders, designated personal contacts, and the insurer, while utilizing Agero’s years of experience in Accident Scene Management and proven national network of Service Providers.
Usage-based insurance programs are predicted to grow dramatically over the coming years. Traditionally, insurers have favored hardware dependent OBDII solutions to record driving behavior. However, due to dependence on expensive hardware, such systems have been slow to adopt. With battery performance improvements, and mass adoption of smart phone technologies, insurers are increasingly turning to smartphone-based apps as a means of avoiding these hardware expenses. Additionally, mobile apps are significantly easier to update when enhancements and new features are added.
“As the insurance industry witnessed when credit score was adopted for underwriting in the 1990s, UBI will drive competitive advantage for insurers,” said Julian Bourne, “But OBDII strategies are too costly and complex to provision. In preference insurers will choose mobile UBI solutions to avoid the hardware costs and to empower the consumer.”
Agero’s technology will soon transform the insurer-insured relationship by building more trust between the insurance company and the driver. With automatic crash notification, drivers have confidence in knowing that their insurance provider is alerted to an accident and are available to walk the driver through the entire claims process. Furthermore, by tracking driving habits in real- time, drivers have assurance that their premiums are based on their personal driving behavior instead of general industry-wide standards. Agero’s holistic solution promotes improved driving behavior, while reducing driver risk and insurance premiums. Additionally, it provides a safety net for those unavoidable times when accidents happen through assistance with emergency services, along with our accident management services, which reduce claims costs and get drivers back on the road faster.
“Mobile UBI is game changing to the industry, I believe it could enhance insurance underwriting the same way credit score did in the nineties,” commented insurance industry analyst Richard Watts. “If so, the insurance providers adopting UBI the fastest will be at an advantage. Furthermore auto crash notification, as part of the package makes good business sense to the insurer and could save lives.”
