Reinventing motor insurance for the app generation

David Humphreys, director of automotive at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, opened the discussion by outlining how changing ownership patterns are transforming the market.

Kyle Tyrrell, chief financial officer at The Acorn Group, said he splits usage-based motorists into two camps.

He said: “The first is consumers just looking at the car as the rental product. Services where you can just go and grab something. Does that take business away from aggregators? Is it more fleet driven business?

“The more revolutionary side, which I think is more exciting, is how much more personalised it can get. Where I just want to go and drive my brother’s car for an hour and I have an app on my phone and I can go and do that.

“I think it will be empowering from a customer standpoint.”

Graham Davis, Ageas UK’s head of insight and propositions, pointed to the generational shift: “You have different generations on the road with different learnt behaviours.

“From an insurance perspective you have got a younger driver that wants to access a vehicle on demand then the ability to engage with a short-term or usage-based product is probably going to be far more relevant to them.”

Russell Harrison, divisional head in Markerstudy’s underwriting department, reflected on the shift towards electric vehicles plus unpicking how motorists owned and cared for their cars as playing a greater part in determining premiums moving forward.

He said: “How do you look at a customer who has been in a traditional internal combustion engine car for the last 20 years and then all of a sudden has gone into an electric car in comparison to a younger driver who has always driven an electric vehicle?

“All those things need consideration and in the past we haven’t looked at past vehicle ownership in any real depth but going forward I think that is key to us.”

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