The smartphone: A platform for insurance innovation
Most policyholders own and understand how to use smartphones, giving insurers an avenue to offer enhanced safety features and improve CX.
Modern cars now come equipped with impressive, advanced safety features, all of which protect the driver and reduce the risk to carriers providing these drivers with auto insurance. Of course, many motorists can’t just buy a new car equipped with these safety capabilities.
That said, they probably own a smartphone. In fact, according to a 2021 study from Pew, at least 85% of Americans do. That smartphone presents insurers with a remarkably flexible platform that can enable a wide array of advanced capabilities.
For starters, the modern smartphone includes a built-in camera that provides high-quality images and video, especially in later models. Smartphones have near constant, high-speed connectivity, thanks to ubiquitous LTE networks and the rapidly growing footprint of 5G. Just as important, smartphones can provide precise location information through the use of GPS. Finally, because they’ve been developed for consumers, almost every insured driver already understands how to use one — so long as mobile apps are well-designed with a user interface that follows best practices, the learning curve for most consumers will be almost non-existent.
Transforming a smartphone into a dashcam
Driver Technologies is one example of a company that has developed a technology platform that leverages smartphones to create an advanced driving assistance tool. In-app, real-time video analysis enables key safety features, such as collision detection and drowsy driver alerts, which help drivers avoid accidents.
It also transforms the smartphone into a dashcam and mobile driving assistance system. Mounted on the dash, the smartphone records a driver’s trip, which can be analyzed in the cloud. The consumer can also set privacy settings, so the device only saves video in a collision. These dashcam recordings can serve as useful evidence in a crash, helping speed time to settlement and potentially saving drivers and their insurers from getting the blame for accidents that are not their fault.
While the safety and dashcam capabilities are valuable, the more a technology company offers from its platform, the more valuable it becomes to both insurers and consumers. However, developing all the capabilities an auto insurer or a motorist could want in-house is too expensive and time-consuming for a single company to undertake. So, technology companies are driven to partner with other vendors who provide complementary capabilities.
Partnerships converge technologies
In the case of Driver Technologies, the company has partnered with a large number of other vendors. NOCELL enables motorists to block non-essential apps while driving to reduce potential distractions, PingLoud reads aloud any messages received while driving and GasBuddy provides substantial gas discounts nationally at more than 95% of U.S. gas stations.
Additionally, while the collected technologies are working to prevent accidents, in the event of a collision, Driver wanted to leverage the smartphone’s camera and intelligent software to enable drivers with a guided process for photographing damage. In this way, the software could ensure that the driver gets complete coverage of the entire vehicle with usable, high-quality images that capture all damage. This documentation helps insurers settle claims faster than if they have to capture all this information themselves.
Driver partnered with HONK Technologies, whose technology works with a network of 108,000 service vehicles to find the closest qualified provider to a driver. HONK already works with many insurers as their roadside assistance provider and has rolled out an accident scene documentation technology to speed up the claims process.
The smartphone is a flexible device that can bring advanced safety features, roadside assistance, distraction reduction and even accident scene documentation to motorists and insurers. As vendors continue to innovate and partner, the range of technology-powered services will only become more affordable and powerful. Insurers shouldn’t overlook this powerful technology platform that’s already deployed in the pockets and pocketbooks of nearly all of their customers.
Paul Williams is vice president of business development at HONK.
Marcus Newbury is COO and co-founder of Driver Technologies, Inc.
Opinions expressed here are the author’s own.
Related: